Mum allegedly stole daughters' £50,000 inheritance in 'blatant' fraud

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A mum has gone on trial accused of stealing her daughters' £50,000 inheritance in a "blatant and brazen" fraud. Katherine Hill, 53, and her dad Gerald Hill, 93, are alleged to have abused their positions as trustees to take every penny the girls had been left by their late grandmother who died in 2013.

Swansea Crown Court heard £50,000 was placed into a standard bank account which was opened in the defendants' names but within a little over a year the account had been emptied, reports Wales Online.Save for a few thousand pounds all the money was withdrawn in the form of cash, and where it is now or how it was spent remains unknown.

Katherine and Gerald deny fraud by abuse of position and are on trial.The prosecutor, James Hartson, said when Margaret Hill - Katherine Hill's mother and Gerald Hill's wife - died in 2013 she left a will stating that some £50,000 should be put aside from her estate and held in trust for her young granddaughters until they reached the age of 25.

Katherine Hill, a solicitor, and a family friend had initially been named as trustees of the inheritance but the solicitor was replaced at a later date by Gerald Hill by mutual agreement.The prosecutor said probate on Mrs Hill's estate was completed in 2016 and £50,000 plus interest was paid to Katherine Hill who, against advice to move the cash into a suitable investment, simply opened a Barclays Everyday Saver account at her local branch in Pontardawe and deposited the money there.The court heard the account allowed instant access and was in the names of the defendants, and that both had a bank card.Mr Hartson said within a little over a year of the account opening, every penny had been withdrawn through big cash withdrawals - one for £15,000 and