Rugby fan guilty of swindling £60,000 of his friend’s savings

ARUGBY fan who stood to inherit his dying friend’s home fraudulently helped himself to the retired businessman’s £60,000 savings.

Graeme Prance, 53, drained Ken Elliott’s savings after the widower gave him Power of Attorney over his financial affairs.

A court heard Mr Elliott was unaware what was going on when he changed his will on his deathbed to leave his £212,000 family home to Prance. Mr Elliott’s son Richard, 54, is contesting the will in the civil courts, claiming he was robbed of his inheritance.

A fraud trial heard Prance and Mr Elliott had been friends for 35 years through their shared love of rugby.

Prance, a founding member of the Cardiff Blues Supporters’ Club, claimed he was “like a son” to Mr Elliott and visited him daily at his bungalow in Cyncoed, Cardiff.

In return, his friend showered him with gifts including a £15,000 van for Prance’s kitchen and bathroom fitting business. He also gave him £1,500 cash and paid for Prance to take his wife on a sunshine holiday.

But the prosecution heard there was a “rash” of withdrawals from Mr Elliott’s bank accounts immediately after Prance was given Power of Attorney. Prosecutor Nick Gedge said: “Prance could only use his Power of Attorney by acting in the best interests of Mr Elliott. But the expenditure on Mr Elliott’s bank accounts changed dramatically – prior to that, withdrawals had been relatively modest. He dishonestly helped himself to Mr Elliott’s money to pay for goods and services.”

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, along with £10,000 cash in a shoebox.

When Mr Elliott died aged 85, his only child Richard expected to inherit the family home in the Cardiff suburb of Cyncoed. But a jury heard his father had secretly changed his will and signed the property over to struggling businessman Prance.

Through a videolink Richard Elliott sobbed as he told the jury: “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.”

Richard Elliott said he “knew for a fact” his father had left the bungalow to him in his earlier will.

He told the court: “That has unfortunately been taken off me – it breaks my heart. The bungalow was stolen from me – it was my inheritance. My mum left it to my dad to be passed on to me when he died.”

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard his father called a solicitor to his hospital bedside to change his will before he died in May 2016.

Prance told the court how his close friend signed over his family home while being treated for stage four kidney failure.

He said: “I had a phone call from Ken in hospital asking to see me. I went in and he had a massive smile on his face. He said, ‘That’s for you, I’ve done it.’ It was his will.”

Prance agreed Mr Elliott’s son was not made aware of the change in is father’s wishes. He told the jury his friend and benefactor had made provision for his son, who was due to inherit £250,000. The court heard Mr Elliott’s son has launched civil proceedings challenging his father’s will.

The jury found Prance, of Llandaff, Cardiff, guilty of four charges of fraud. Judge Patrick Curran told him all sentencing options were open when he is sentenced next month.