My dad’s best friend stole my inheritance, son tells court
A GRIEVING son broke down in court as he accused his father’s best friend of stealing his inheritance.
Richard Elliott told a jury he discovered his father had signed over the family home to his rugby pal on the day he died.
The court heard Mr Elliott’s father Ken had formed a close friendship with Graeme Prance through their shared love of rugby.
Prance, 53, is charged with fraudulently helping himself to £60,000 of his friend’s savings after being granted Power of Attorney over his affairs.
A jury heard Richard Elliott had a “difficult relationship” with his father but the pair lived together at a £212,000 bungalow in Cyncoed, Cardiff.
Through a video link, Mr Elliott said: “On the day my dad died, Graeme said to me, ‘Did you realise your dad left me the bungalow?’
“He said I was not to worry because I could carry on living there rent-free and he would not kick me out on the street.”
Mr Elliott said he “knew for a fact” that his father had left the bungalow to him in his will.
He told the court: “That has unfortunately been taken off me – it breaks my heart. It was stolen from me, it was my inheritance. My mum left it to my dad to be passed on to me when he died.”
Mr Elliott, who was his bed-bound father’s principal carer, sobbed uncontrollably, saying: “He’s got parents, I haven’t” – referring to Prance in the dock
Court.
Mr Elliott’s father changed his will before he died aged 85 in May 2016, leaving the property to Prance and the rest of his estate to his son.
The fraud trial has heard how Mr Elliott’s father treated Prance like a son after meeting 35 years earlier through their shared love of rugby.
He “gifted” Prance £15,000 to buy a Mercedes van for his Cardiff-based kitchen and bathroom fitting business.
He also paid for his 50th-birthday party and funded a sunshine holiday for Prance and his wife.
But after Ken Elliott died, discrepancies were discovered in his bank accounts and police were called in.
Prosecutor Nick Gedge said: “Prance could only use his Power of Attorney by acting in the best interests of Mr Elliott [Ken].
“Once Power of Attorney had been granted, the pattern of spending changed dramatically.”
The court heard £14,575 was dishonestly taken from the pensioner’s Post Office account, £25,469 from his current account and £9,550 from a NatWest account.
A £10,000 cheque from Ken Elliott’s Santander account was also cashed by the defendant, a founding member of the Cardiff Blues Supporters’ Club.
Prance, of Llandaff, Cardiff, claims all the expenditure from Ken Elliott’s accounts was authorised by him.
He denies four charges of fraud and the trial continues. at Merthyr Tydfil Crown