Prison an option for Wick woman who abused Power of Attorney for her mother
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A Wick woman has admitted misappropriating thousands of pounds while she was acting as her ailing mother's Power of Attorney.
Wick Sheriff Court heard on Tuesday that Anne Collier (65) embezzled £62,276.28 from Joan Hall's estate in England.
She pleaded guilty on indictment and will be sentenced later this month.
On April 4, 2012, Mrs Hall gave consent for Collier to become Power of Attorney due to her declining health and vascular dementia.
Three days later, Mrs Hall, who previously lived alone in her own home in Cornwall, became a privately-funded resident in an Andover home financed by the sale of her house, £78,661. In addition to this, she was in receipt of an RAF widows' pension and a state pension which gave a combined monthly income in excess of £1100.
Later, in November of the same year, Collier took responsibility for the care home fees and set up a standing order to pay for them.
However, between October 2013 and June 2015, only five payments were made.
Outlining the background to the case, Fiscal David Barclay said that the care home repeatedly contacted the accused over the arrears, but with limited success and during the period liabled, there was £30,000 outstanding.
In May 2014, Hampshire County Council passed details of their concerns regarding Collier's Power of Attorney to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), having also reported the matter to the police.
The OPG concluded that Collier had mismanaged Mrs Hall's money and asked the Court of Protection to revoke the accused's Power of Attorney and appoint a deputy to make decisions on her mother's behalf in relation to her property and finances.
In February 2015, the Court ordered Collier's Power of Attorney to be revoked and made an alternative appointment. Mrs Hall died in 2017.
Mr Barclay said that police officers carried out an investigation in April 2018 and searched Collier's personal and business bank accounts.
It revealed that Collier had transferred money from Mrs Hall's bank account into her own account and had also been paying her own bills.
Sums had been used for other purposes which were not to the benefit of Mrs Hall.
Mr Barclay said: "The accused had been using the funds largely as part of her personal day-to-day spending. Analysis of the bank accounts showed that she would not have otherwise been able to fund the purchases, payments and cash withdrawals without resorting to her mother's funds."
Collier took cash from ATMs, and also used Mrs Hall's bank card and transferred money from her mother's bank account and made payments to one of the accused's son's business accounts.
Mr Barclay said that when interviewed by police officers Collier was asked to explain banking spreadsheets.
Collier repeatedly replied: "I don't remember". She didn't dispute what was contained in the bank records but added: "I can't really explain it."
Mr Barclay said that Collier believed her mother would have approved of the payment to the accused's son and stated that he and Mrs Hall had discussed his new business venture.
Asked about her son's benefiting from the funds she replied: " I know, that was a really big mistake". At the end of the interview, Collier stated: "I failed". She was then cautioned and charged.
The court was told that Collier, of Macrae Street, Wick, had run her own dressmaking and gifts and wool business in John O'Groats but closed it in 2015 as she couldn't afford to keep it going.
Collier told police officers that her financial circumstances were "dire" and she "owed money everywhere" to the tune of between £9000 and £10,000.
Sheriff Neil Wilson described Collier's actions as "a very serious breach of trust" involving a substantial sum of money and said that prison would be among the sentencing options.
The sheriff called for a background report and will consider it along with mitigation when Collier returns to court on November 28.
