Elderly mother being exploited

[Saratoga123]

I posted about this issue a while ago and received some very good advice. My mother has dementia and a couple of years ago, she was taken advantage of by a neighbour who befriended her to the tune of 25K. That was incredibly stressful in itself, but I have now realised that another neighbour is now doing exactly the same thing. The neighbout is asking mum for loans worth thousands of pounds and also getting my mum to do a large weekly shop for her and her family coming to over £150 a week. I have contacted the police and they say they can't prove any actual crime. I have lodged a safeguarding issue with socual services and met with them to discuss. Although I listed a dozen suspicious activities and I thought they would help, they have now spoken to my mum who has told them them that she thinks the neighbour is honest, so social services are backing off now. They seem to think that it is ok for her to take money from my mum in exchange for friendship and they actually said as much to me. We have also found out recently that none of the neighbour's family speak to her because she also stole money from them. I have spoken to my mum's bank and they are not helping because they say they can't stop this neighbour from coming into the bank with my mum and drawing put large sums. They are telling me it is up to my mum, despite her diminished responsibility. My mum was willing to move into sheltered accommodation until recently, but the neighbour persuaded her not to. Even if she did, the neighbour has told her me that she will locate her and visit her. It also concerns me that my mum has mentioned on several occasions that this neighbour has a very bad temper. I'm now at my wits end and feeling depressed about the situation. I feel like I've tried evrything and this this crook of a neighbour is always one step ahead of me and I just can't seem to protect my mum. Can anyone offer any advice?

what SeaToSki said above.
this sounds the most practical do-able advice.
you need to put a stop, or at least a restriction on what is happening asap.
you will need to make an appt with the bank to do all this, and with another one to set up new accounts.
ideally, could you sty overnight, even on sofa, the night before, to make sure neighbour does not get at mother and deter her from going with you to bank.
suggest make early apt for first bank. remember to take all poss ID docs for both of you. then after first appt tell mother let's have lunch out. do not return to house, ie keep away from neighbour, until all completed with transferring/setting up new accounts.
probably best not to mention neighbour to your mother; she has set her up to see you as interfering. don't try to convince mother of neighbour's bad faith, rather quietly steer her away from thoughts of her.
you and your sister spend as much time with mother as poss.
can your sister have her to stay, will mother go ? how about pretext that your sister needs help/support, doesn't like to ask herself, could mother go help her out for a while, as she's been a bit low, give moral support.
good luck.
I know from experience that theory/ legalities are one thing; reality is another. have to work around it, find ways, be adaptable, lateral thinking, learn from others. why not ask on gransnet too.

I can't understand why the police wouldn't be interested in this woman, given they can investigate people for having money in that sort of situation (Proceeds of Crime Act, 2017.) She's so clearly stealing from your mum. I would go to the police again and ask for help.

If dm has dementia you need a poa before it progresses further.... and before the neighbour gets PoA.

You really need legal advice. There's a register of solicitors specialising in the elderly. sfe.legal/

One reason you're hitting a blank wall is the possibility that you are greedy family trying to protect your inheritance, and it's actually the neighbour doing the everyday caring who is the Good Person. It's difficult for police and social services to know who is the goodie in this situation. So vital to get as much objective evidence as possible.

Please please raise a safeguarding concern for your mother. You can do this through your local council website. Please make it clear she has been a victim before and you are concerned about her capacity.

In my local authority they would visit her to get her view, check her capacity and if she is experiencing abuse complete some safety planning with her/the family.

This is absolutely dreadful, but I can absolutely see how it happens. Short term a stay with your sister sounds like a very good idea.

Could you put it to your mum that another bank would give better returns on her money and that you will organise the changeover?

I set up my mother for internet banking, even though she will never use it. The email address and mobile number linked to the account are mine, so if anything unusual happens I will be alerted. All her bills are on DD, and if she needs to pay a plumber or something I organise the payment. She has a dementia diagnosis and still functions very well day to day but gets very stressed by financial stuff. She also cannot tell the difference in 200/2000/20000 etc.

She now has learnt to tell everyone that her daughter looks after all that sort of thing, which is a huge relief.

I am in the process of setting up POA. I've done it online and it cost about £80. It just needed a couple of signatures from my mother and a witness signature ( I asked an accountant). Again, I didn't go into a huge explanation with her, ( she doesn't accept her diagnosis anyway) just said that as I was already looking after all her financial affairs then this was legalising it.

The other thing I've done is get myself appointed as her representative for anything to do with benefits and pensions. I can't remember the exact phase but the local DHSS office helped me. I applied for Attendance Allowance for her but it occurred to me that this was also open to exploitation, as anyone can do it and the person filling in the form can put any bank details where the money will be paid. ( just another thought for the neighbour?)

Thank you all very much for your advice. I am now acting on a lot of the suggestions from this thread and I am hoping to get some protection for my mum. All of this makes me think thst there isn't enough out there to protect elderly and vulnerable people. I'm so sorry for those of you who have experienced similar situations.