Update.....I complained to bank and said they should have picked up the significant change in spending on the account as part of their safeguarding duties. They refuted this on the grounds that TP had not registered the LPA with them and so they were not aware Dad was a vulnerable person and TP only needed to claim Dad had told him to to spend the money and it was my word against TP. I have gone to the Ombudsman on this as the FCA say that banks have a safeguarding responsibility for vulnerable persons (even if they didn't know he had dementia, they knew Dads grand old age) and that this duty cannot just rely on reports received by family, but they must be proactive in spotting significant changes. Watch this space!
However Dad had given a letter of authority to his GP years ago to say I could have access to his medical records and so post death, that combined with my Executorship meant they sent me info which showed exactly when Dad was diagnosed with Dementia and it records that TP was notified as next of kin and it was after this TP started spending The GP's records also show that TP was advised at the time Dad went into the care home that he had lost his mental capacity. This means two things, TP cannot say he did not know the severity of the dementia, and he certainly knew when dad went into the care home that Dad did not have his mental capacity yet TP continued to spend Dads money and it was a couple of years later that TP subsequently got the LPA.
Also in checking how the monies were spent on the bank statements, PayPal/Amazon were used a lot and it transpires TP's partner was also spending Dads money.
In applying for Probate the question was asked if TP was aware of anyone having received any gifts in the last 7 years from Dad, including him and the answer (in writing) was no! If TP had helped himself to all this money from Dads bank account and he was saying he hadn't been gifted any monies, then he needs to prove the monies he spend were for Dad...this will be interesting.
Anyway to cut a long story short, I reported it to the Police, they investigated and after 6 weeks of enquiries, they arrested TP. TP confirmed he was responsible for Dads finances, did not state that Dad had told him he could spend the money and as he had already stated in writing for the Probate that he had not been gifted monies (or payments in kind), he now has to explain what he did with the money and why this was for Dads benefit...going to be tricky pre the LPA as I struggle to remember what I bought on PayPal last month let alone 4 years ago. Police in the meantime are also looking at the partner but TP does not know this, and I have strong reason to believe that someone else in TPs family are involved..
Being arrested is one thing, being charged is another...its not a done deal yet. However.... as he didn't say that he had Dads permission to spend the money, which is why the bank had declined to investigate my claim, I have gone back to the bank to see what their excuse is now??? I'm thinking here that if they have to repatriate some of Dads money to his account, then THEY may take legal action against TP to recover the monies.
I went to my local MP for assistance pre arrest and she was a complete waste of space. I made it clear that if I couldn't get the money back, the loophole with regard to LPA's needed to be closed to prevent this happening to others and she just was not interested. The Police checked with the OPG that they had no responsibility to ensure the validity of the LPA upon application and the Police Officer was also stunned that there was no recourse if the doner(Dad) has since died. Apparently if the issue is discovered prior to death they can help, just not post death.
When this is all over and I know the true picture, I aim to start a campaign to get this addressed.
