As our elderly population soars, shocking evidence shows there has been a worrying increase in the number of older people being financially abused – even within their own families
As our elderly population soars, there has been a worrying increase in the number of older people being financially abused – even within their own families. With more than a quarter of over 65s in England needing some form of social care, they can be conned by those closest to them, according to shocking evidence uncovered by ITV’s Tonight programme.
Lawyer Ann Stanyer, an expert in the field, says: “I think financial abuse of the elderly is much more widespread than we realise.” Barbara Wilcox, 87, and her late husband John, a successful businessman, had a long and loving relationship before he developed vascular dementia.
John had treated two children and three grandchildren from Barbara’s first marriage as his own. Barbara, from Wales, says: “All he wanted to do was look after me and that’s what he did for 40-odd years. The eldest of the grandchildren, Amy, was the apple of his eye.”
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The dementia had altered John’s behaviour and he became aggressive towards Barbara. He then turned to Amy and it was agreed he would move to a care home near to her in Devon, 120 miles from his wife.
Barbara soon started receiving text messages saying she no longer had any say in her husband’s care. A call to the care home revealed John, whose assets were worth £1.5 million, was no longer living there and Barbara learned he had made Amy his lasting power of attorney.
Ms Stanyer explains: “It gives decision-making power to another person, so they can manage your affairs. If I had a client who had a vascular dementia diagnosis, I would instruct an experienced capacity assessor to ensure that client knew what they were signing. I would definitely get a psychiatrist to do that.”
Barbara later discovered John had also changed his will, leaving everything in a trust for Amy. But there was nothing unlawful in the arrangement of the LPA or the will. Then Amy refused to tell the rest of the family where John was. Barbara says: “I thought I wouldn’t ever see him again.”
Barbara’s daughter confronted Amy and found out John was living in a hotel with no cleaning provisions and little food. She says: “He was living on ready-meals. I walked in there and he just looked. He was lying on the bed and he said, ‘Oh, Mrs Wilcox’. I said, ‘Do you want to come home?’ He said, ‘Yes, I do’.”
It emerged later that Amy had taken more than £5,000 from John’s account, leading to a police caution for fraud. Barbara asked the Office of the Public Guardian if they could blacklist Amy and stop her being an attorney to anyone else. She says: “They said, ‘Oh, we can’t do that’. I thought, ‘That’s crazy’.” An OPG spokesman told Tonight: “We recognise the serious harm that economic abuse can cause. Where evidence emerges that an attorney is acting improperly or poses a risk, we will investigate and refer cases to the Court of Protection to suspend or remove attorneys.”
Sadly, John’s story is not unique. Verna, 83, turned detective when her cousin Rita Barnsley, 85, who was single and childless, died. She had been admitted to the Amberley Care Home in Dudley, West Mids, in 2020 after a fall. Verna became suspicious when she stopped being able to speak to her on the phone. She says: “There was always an excuse why I couldn’t.”
In August 2021, Rita died and when Verna was sent a copy of her will she knew something was badly wrong.Verna says: “At the bottom where she signed it, it’s little writing,” she says. “I knew that Rita hadn’t done it.”
It emerged care-home manager Jamiel Slaney-Summers had targeted Rita, isolating her from her only surviving relative. She was jailed for five-and-a-half years for forging Rita’s will and trying to steal her £175,000 estate. Graham and Lyn Walker, who own the care home, were sentenced to three years each. Verna says: “It was awful. I still don’t know where her ashes are.”
Richard Robinson, CEO, of the Hourglass charity, says: “We believe 2.7 million people a year are affected by the abuse of older people.” Paul Farmer of Age UK, adds: “We worry the scale of this is greater.”
Trading Standards can prosecute social care providers for criminal offences. One branch has formed a specialist unit, the West Yorkshire Financial Exploitation and Abuse Team, to investigate allegations. In March, its biggest prosecution, when care provider Peter Hunter was jailed for six years for fraud. He had stolen more than £330,000 by manipulating three elderly clients into giving him power of attorney. WYFEAT’s Krystal Delaney says: “I feel we were able to get justice for those families. And he’s now taken off the streets so he can no longer offend.”
*Cashing In On The Elderly: Who To Trust? is on ITV tonight at 7.30pm.
Who to call if you’re at risk
If you or someone elderly you know is in danger of financial abuse call 999 if it is an emergency, if not dial 101. You can contact Report Fraud by visiting their website at reportfraud.police.uk or by calling them on 0300 123 2040. Hourglass offers support via wearehourglass.org or by calling them on 0808 808 8141.
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