An Aberdeen solicitor has gone on trial accused of embezzling £120,000 from a vulnerable elderly woman.
John Sinclair is alleged to have removed the sum of money from various bank accounts belonging to a wealthy 90-year-old client after she was diagnosed with dementia and placed in a nursing home.
The 69-year-old lawyer had been granted power of attorney over the woman’s finances and welfare following her diagnosis in 2014.
It’s alleged that Sinclair began removing large sums of money from Dr Doreen Milne’s personal bank accounts between October 2016 and August 2017.
One witness told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that the woman had granted Sinclair power of attorney because “she had nobody else”.
Sinclair, a former partner at James and George Collie Solicitors in Aberdeen, is also accused of repeatedly deleting computer entries in an attempt to avoid detection.
It’s claimed that Sinclair approached a work colleague and asked him how to permanently delete an “event log” from his firm’s computer system.
Sinclair, of Murtle Den Road, Aberdeen, denies all the charges against him.
‘Financial irregularity’
Jurors heard from Evelyn Orr, the woman who led the team at the Office of The Public Guardian that investigated Sinclair.
She described the number of transactions carried out by him as unusual and “inappropriate”.
“In my opinion, the attorney would be placing themselves in a precarious position by carrying out such transactions,” she said.
“We may feel that the person is not the right person to have power over the funds – it’s a temptation for them to continue to access the funds.”
Law cashier at James and George Collie Solicitors, Fiona Cobban, also spoke of discovering a financial irregularity in relation to Sinclair’s dealings with Dr Milne’s accounts.
She told the court that she was handed a bank statement that showed Sinclair had closed one account belonging to the 90-year-old woman without declaring it.
Mrs Cobban also claimed she placed the statement on her desk and that it had disappeared upon her return from holiday.
Cross-examined by defence solicitor Ian Duguid KC, Mrs Cobban admitted being “suspicious” of Sinclair as she “wondered where the money had gone”.
She added: “There was a financial irregularity. Nothing like this had ever happened before”.
Secretary asked for office keys
A former secretary of Sinclair, Elizabeth Craig, also gave evidence and told the jury that Sinclair contacted her following his dismissal by James and George Collie Solicitors.
“He asked if I could let him into the office. He wanted certain things from his desk that he would rather people didn’t see.”
Mrs Craig stated that she refused to hand over her office keys because she “didn’t want to be party to anything illegal”.
The trial, before Sheriff Morag McLaughlin, continues.
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