OPG fraudulent lpa referral to police
- Thread starter Marathonman
- Start date
Hello and welcome to the forum.
Fortunately, my husband and his sister and both us in laws were all coming from the same place when it came to looking after my Mother in Law for which I am eternally grateful!
However, there are many people on here who are struggling with differences of opinion or suspected or actual financial abuse of their loved ones, and I am sure that somebody will be along soon to tell their experience or give advice.
I'm sorry that you have had to find yourself here and I hope that you will find it a supportive and friendly place.
Fortunately, my husband and his sister and both us in laws were all coming from the same place when it came to looking after my Mother in Law for which I am eternally grateful!
However, there are many people on here who are struggling with differences of opinion or suspected or actual financial abuse of their loved ones, and I am sure that somebody will be along soon to tell their experience or give advice.
I'm sorry that you have had to find yourself here and I hope that you will find it a supportive and friendly place.
Welcome to TP. There have been a number of cases reported in the press where people have been prosecuted and imprisoned due LPA abuse (fraud/theft). Prosecution will be considered on a case by case basis taking into account all of the particular circumstances and the CPS will make that decision, not the Police or the OPG. If you are aware of or suspect an LPA fraud you should report it, regardless of whether it may/may not result in a prosecution.
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I discovered in my role as Executor after my Fathers death, huge abuse by his LPA who transferred money from his various accounts into theirs to benefit themselves, during the last 7 months of his life, and also encashing shares and closing accounts just hours after his death. I contacted the OPG, CPS and police but they didnt want to know as my Father had died. 5 years on, I have never been able to enact out my Fathers wishes as per his Will, despite using a specialised solicitor and a forensic accountant to prove my findings, (at huge cost to myself) as the person just refuses to pay the money back into the estate, so I've been unable to take it to probate. Consequently the land registry details of the house of which my Father left a share of to my sister and myself cannot be updated either as well as the beneficiaries not having received their share of estate monies. I have bever been interested in my Fathers money for myself but just wanted to enact out my lovely Dads wishes. He did everything the correct way to protect his assets for his loved ones but unfortunately these people who take advantage of vulnerable people can just get away with it. For my own health and sanity I feel I cannot fight it anymore and have to walk away so they've won.
I contacted the OPG too express concern that a family member who is not the Attorney has been doing online transactions on behalf of my mum - but the OPG said that they could only investigate my the attorney not a third party.
Given how many elderly rely on others to do their banking etc online, this is a huge huge risk.
Given how many elderly rely on others to do their banking etc online, this is a huge huge risk.
Thank you all for your replies. I was shocked to find how easy it is to take out lpa without the knowledge of a donor who is incapacitated,and not inform other members of the family. OPG are currently investigating this case so I can’t say too much but am hoping justice will be served on the fraudster and those who helped them. I don’t have full knowledge of the extent of abuse but it involves selling a property (albeit not in the UK).
I’m so sorry to hear about your experience. I know only too well how this can be so all consuming and I admire you for walking away to save yourself. I only hope I can do the same if justice isn’t served in this case.
By 'doing online transactions' I don't mean theft (well I don't believe there has been any ) but he had invested some money in a non-regulated and so non-protected peer-to-peer lending /crowdfunding website.
I don't believe that Dad would have sanctioned this, and it is a risky investment at a time when money should be handled cautiously.
Does the person who holds the power of attorney know that the family member is doing this?
That's terrible how does that effect the house being sold though,is it not possible to write off that money owed so probate can be granted,sounds so complicated,I imagine if solicitors are involved they will be wiping out any money
Did you ever get any closure to this please I am in a similar position it's heartbreaking to know this happens to vulnerable people and there is no justice
I admire you for walking away as well. I don't know how you can get justice as no one wants to know after person has passed. Opg told us to go to the police as they don't investigate after death. The police have just told us to go to the opg. POA just gives some people an open cheque book and abuse it's seems it's far too common. It's fraud and should be punishable
This is an awful situation to find yourself in and I can’t help but wonder what would happen to the house if both you and your sister died before you completed probate? Is that a question worth asking? I cannot believe that you are the first person to ever find yourself in this situation so there just has to be some way through all these issues that none of the authorities can be bothered to find.
Have you tried suing the LPA for the money? Even if he declares bankruptcy, that should take you one step further. Is your local MP any use?
When we first returned to Australia, my husband had to apply for a residency visa and get registered on our Medicare health system. The trouble was that he couldn’t be registered for Medicare because he didn’t have a tax file number. He didn’t have a tax file number because he had never worked in this country. Of course, you would think he was the first person to be in this situation but obviously, with all our immigrants, he wasn’t the first, just people didn’t want to be bothered working it out. He came in on a spousal visa, so was different to an immigrant but still not the first.
This was so ridiculous that I wrote to the relevant Cabinet Minister and you wouldn’t believe how swiftly the matter was resolved. I have no idea of what happened but didn’t care. Somebody found a way to handle it.
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