Jailed, legal chief who took £300,000 from family wills
A SENIOR executive at a law firm who stole more than £300,000 of money families should have received in wills has been jailed for four years.
Rachel Swettenham, 55, used the stash to buy a boat, cars and fund a property portfolio.
She transferred the cash while acting as executor of wills in the probate department of solicitors in Stockport, Greater Manchester.
The mother-of-three, who earned £32,000 a year, plus bonuses, used the money to buy a £327,000 house in Deganwy, North Wales, plus a further investment property.
She and husband Roger, 55, also bought a £40,000 cabin cruiser and spent more on cars, furniture and paying off credit card debts.
Scam
Swettenham tried to cover her tracks by using “miltary-style” software to delete client files but the scam was exposed when her bosses became suspicious.
Mark Deverell, senior partner at Gorvins solicitors, where she had worked for 35 years, told Manchester Crown Court that Swettenham was dismissed in 2014 when the swindle came to light.
He said: “Families were victims of Rachel’s manipulation. They did not receive money that was rightfully theirs and instead Rachel and Roger enjoyed it for themselves.”
Swettenham admitted fraud to the value of £316,162. Her husband admitted money laundering of £159,527.
He was given a 12-month suspended jail sentence and told to do 200 hours unpaid work. The couple have since split up. Gorvins has refunded all the money stolen from clients.
Prosecutor Maria Brannan said Swettenham had withdrawn money from the accounts of dead clients and transferred it into accounts of clients for whom she had power of attorney.
In one case she transferred £187,978 from an elderly woman’s account in the months before her death.
Miss Brannan said Roger Swettenham was “a knowing and willing recipient” of the money and played an active role in spending it.