In order to pay off his mortgage, take extravagant vacations, and renovate his garden, a nephew committed power of attorney fraud and stole almost £600,000 ($765,000) from his elderly aunt. The nephew is now serving time in prison for his crimes.
David Eggleton, 71, of Calne, Wiltshire, plowed through a fortune after moving vast quantities of his 93-year-old aunt Lillian’s money into his bank account.
His deceit, which spanned from 2018 to 2020, came to light after Ms. Eggleton’s bills went unpaid because her account was short on money.
Swindon Crown Court found Eggleton guilty of fraud and perverting the course of justice, notwithstanding his claims that the funds had been given or lent to him. He even went so far as to forge a fake agreement between him and his aunt.
Recorder Marcus Pilgerstorfer KC, the judge, sentenced Eggleton to five years and six months in prison.
The Methodist Homes-run care facility, Kenbrook in Wembley, received £4,500 monthly through a direct debit from Ms. Eggleton’s bank account. The first bounced payment occurred in August 2018, and problems reoccurred sporadically until 2020. Ms. Eggleton then authorized the inspection of her bank account, revealing that her nephew had been moving “big sums” into his account.
Even after his aunt told Eggleton in June 2020 that she didn’t want him involved with her money anymore, he still took money out of her account for months.
After receiving a complaint from Ms. Eggleton in September 2020, Wiltshire Police began an investigation.
Eggleton, according to Mr. Rowe, had maintained his innocence “from day one,” asserting that his victim had given him the money via a loan arrangement that he had purportedly drafted with her help. However, a single copy of the loan agreement bearing his aunt’s forged signature was discovered at his residence, and Eggleton confessed during the trial that it had been drafted unlawfully.
