
In a trial that has just concluded in the Luton Crown Court, and which was compared to the recent hit movie ‘Saltburn’, David Walbank KC acted for a defendant charged with fraud by abuse of position.
The central allegation was that she had exploited her position as the holder of a Lasting Power of Attorney and pressured or tricked her aged stepfather into transferring title to his ancestral home at a substantial undervalue.
At the close of the prosecution case, David made a successful submission that there was no case to the answer in relation to that charge. The trial judge ruled that the defendant’s appointment as Attorney and the existence of the Power of Attorney document had played no part in the transactions leading to the sale; had not featured in the client engagement letter, the solicitors’ correspondence or any of the contract documentation (including a conveyance, mortgage and tenancy for life); and that, on the contrary, the defendant’s stepfather had been independently advised and represented by reputable solicitors, who had gone to great pains to confirm his mental capacity and full understanding of the purpose and effect of the series of linked transactions. The judge also ruled that the conveyance of his lifelong home had a rational and legitimate purpose to do with the costs of his ongoing care and that there was no evidence to support the prosecution’s contention that the sale had taken place at an undervalue. The prosecution had advanced a quantum figure for this alleged fraud of more than £800,000.
In relation to two subsidiary counts relating to bank transfers and share dealings, the defendant received a suspended sentence with no community requirements.