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A sad case for forensic accountants

Member: Nifa

As the general population ages and dementia and general sickness become more prevalent amongst the elderly, it is unfortunately likely that there will be more cases such as the one concerning the man who defrauded his dying grandfather out of his life savings. In this sad case, a Doncaster man, who had power of attorney for his grandfather, admitted fraud by abusing his position, following a significant police investigation and the use of specialist forensic accountants.

A relative of the 84-year-old voiced concerns about the man’s financial affairs to the police in 2011 and an inspection of his bank accounts revealed them to be empty. During their investigation, the forensic accountants found that legal power of attorney documents had been granted to the grandson in 2008 and that between these dates he had withdrawn significant amounts and ‘frittered away the proceeds’.

A spokesman for the police said that with the help of the financial investigators they had conducted a “complex and lengthy investigation into the financial abuse of an elderly and vulnerable man by a member of his own family”.  He added that the grandson had frittered away his grandfather’s savings to the extent that he not even left enough in the accounts to pay for his funeral when he finally passed away.

Author: Roger Isaacs, 18 May 2015


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