Frauds & Fiddles
Nice work if you can get (away with) it.
Now a private hotel with gardens run by the National Trust, Cliveden was a wedding gift from John Jacob Astor to his American bride, Nancy. Another Astor by marriage, Brooke, started losing her marbles at age 102, died three years later in 2007, and hit the headlines in a star-studded fraudulent-will trial in New York in 2009. After months of testimony, Brooke's 83-year-old son Anthony was convicted of fraud and sentenced to jail. A lawyer was also found guilty.
Wills have been faked probably for as long as wills have been in existence. Harsh penalties for tampering with wills date back at least to Roman times.
Doubtless many forgers have committed the crime and not done the time.
Sophisticated crooks today use high-end photocopiers, computers and other high-tech devices to compose fake wills or doctor otherwise legitimate wills. One common technique is to insert forged sheets into wills.
Buy high-tech gimmickry works both ways. Police and law-enforcement agencies also use modern technology, including devices that examine signatures in 3-D and detect DNA.
WARNING!
Has an individual or company contacted you with the information that you are the lucky heir to a fortune thanks to a long-lost long-forgotten very-distant relative? If so, you may indeed have hit the jackpot - or been contacted by someone who wants to take money from, not give it to, you.
If you are dealing with someone via a website, see if they list a phone number on their site, advises Charles Fraser (pictured) of heir-hunting company Fraser and Fraser. And not just any old phone number should do, adds Fraser, a qualified solicitor. Be suspicious if the only number is a mobile number, and also be wary if it is an 0845 number. "An 0845 number, which can be redirected to any number, wherever. Heirs should be encouraged to call the number and speak to someone," says Fraser.
Here's a helpful checklist:
Check the company’s name, address and other credentials, including associations or organisations to which they claim to belong.
Can you visit their office?
Has your solicitor heard of them? Many solicitors are aware of reputable heir-hunting firms or should know how to verify their bona fides.
If a self-proclaimed heir-hunter has visited you, have they given you paperwork from their company - providing details you can check up on after the individual leaves?
Think twice, and then think again, before sending money in advance to anyone. Says Fraser: "All reputable firms work on the basis that in cases of intestacy they are remunerated only at the same time as the heir receives their entitlement – which, bearing in mind that an estate may take from six months to several years to prove and administer, may take some time, and they are happy to wait. Anyone pressuring you for money is not acting in your client’s best interests and should be reported."
If a company is legitimate, they will not take offence if you check up on them.
Faking it
Octogenarian Kathleen Grundy gratefully left her house to her doctor via her 1998 will, which was properly signed by herself and two witnesses. But all three signatures were forgeries, penned by her doctor-beneficiary - the notorious serial killer, Dr Harold Shipman.
Marlon Brando's death in 2004 was followed by more than a dozen lawsuits, including claims by his daughter-in-law Deborah (widow of his son Christian) that a codicil to his will had been forged. In August 2009 a court dismissed her third - and probably final - attempt to re-open Brando's probate.
Who do you think I am?
A decade ago, middle-aged Annette Russill made herself up and padded herself out to impersonate a wealthy elderly woman named Annie Kay. In this disguise, Russill instructed a solicitor to draw up a new will leaving a bundle to herself and larger sums to her adopted daughter and son-in-law, Annette and David Spillman. For their troubles, the trio were jailed for a total of 15 years. (Was Annette Russill an opera lover? Her deception recalls Giacomo Puccini's popular 1918 comic opera Gianni Schicchi, which involves a similar impersonation.)
The Essex Spillmans should not be confused with American Ferrari fancier Mel Spillman, a probate officer with control over estates of people who died alone and with no heirs. With several heirless individuals, Spillman gave them an heir - himself. He faked documents and forged signatures, sprucing up the documents with official seals. He was unmasked when a judge became suspicious, and by that time Spillman had bought five Ferraris. He was not allowed to take any of them to prison.
Milking It
Lincolnshire-based Willmakers of Distinction certainly was distinct. The firm's principals were convicted of stealing more than £400,000 from their clients.
Businessmen David Nash admitted six charges of theft totalling £415,000, three charges of fraudulent trading, and an offence under the Bankruptcy Act. Solicitor Nicholas Butcher admitted five charges of theft and two charges of fraudulent trading. Each was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail
Their assets were confiscated for distribution to the estates of those who were cheated. However, Nash's £417,000 had dwindled to £55,000, and Butcher's £166,000 had shrunk to £2,600.
Gianni Schicchi - One mule, many jackasses
Owner of a house, some mills and a prize mule, Buoso Donati may not be the Bill Gates or Warren Buffett of his day. But his day is the Middle Ages, his place is Florence, and he is pretty well off.
He is actually wealthy enough to be a prize himself. When he takes to his deathbed, his many relatives quickly surround his bedside.
Donati's next of kin are not saddened by his rapidly declining health. They do, however, become truly upset when they read his will. It confirms their worst fears. Donati is leaving the bulk of his estate not to them but to a monastery.
The relatives enlist Gianni Schicchi to thwart this tragic distribution of wealth to the wrong people. When Donati dies, Schicchi takes his place in the deathbed and dictates a new will in the presence of - but, crucially, hidden from - a notary and two witnesses.
Schicchi is supposed to dictate a will that leaves the possessions to the relatives. But he has his own ideas about wealth transference. Instead of benefiting the family, Schicchi, pretending to be Donati, first gives one valuable item, then another and so on, to his good friend Gianni Schicchi. He even gives himself the mule.
Schicchi successfully enriches himself by his ruse, although he pays a high price over the long - the very long - term. He spends eternity in Hell. Giacomo Puccini based his comic opera Gianni Schicchi (1918) on darker originals, including a version by Dante (c.1265-1321).
Preventing identity theft
"Sometimes fraudsters try to take the deceased's identity to steal money from their estate. You can apply for protective registration to prevent this."
Source: DirectGov
Scam alert
The Probate Office has issued this warning:
Please be aware that there are currently several Probate scams in operation via the Internet. Many of these will inform the recipient that they are the beneficiary of a substantial legacy but will ask for fees and/or taxes in advance of sending more information or the release of funds.
These will always be fraudulent and on no account should you make any payment or transfer any funds. You can obtain further information and advice concerning such scams on www.met.police.uk/fraudalert. You will also find information about reporting such activity to the police, as the police may be able to close down the e-mail accounts concerned.
Source: www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/civil/probate/index.htm
The 'scam' that isn't
Despite the existence of probate scams, you really could be a beneficiary of some long-lost relative or other benefactor. Several legitimate companies (see heir-hunters) specialise in finding beneficiaries who are unaware that they are in line for a legacy. Some charge a fee, others levy a percentage.
If someone writes, phones or emails you saying you may be in for a windfall, how can you determine if they are legitimate?
Research the size, location and other vital life signs of the company concerned. Generally, online scams and scammers are online only. They might have a mobile phone number but no land line. They might have a web address but not a street address. Genuine genealogists and probate researchers have proper offices with proper street addresses and phone numbers. They also have a history. Beware a company that started its business only a week or month ago.
" . . . "
'Their father, my uncle Peregrine, died nine months ago and left them about eight million between them. He inherited from his father, Theodore, who died only a few weeks before him. The family fortune came from him.'
Rhoda said, 'I'm surprised there's so much for your cousins to inherit with two deaths so close together, father and grandfather. The death duties must have been horrendous."
"Old grandfather Theodore had thought of that. I told you he was clever with money. He took out some form of insurance before his last illness started. Anyway, the money's there. They'll get it as soon as probate is granted." ... Rhoda said, 'Your cousins must have been anxious though. There's a clause in all wills saying that the legatee has to survive twenty-eight days after the death of the testator if he is to inherit. I imagine they took good care to keep their father alive - that is if he did survive for those vital eight days. Perhaps they popped him into a freezer and produced him nice and fresh on the appropriate day.
PD James, The Private Patient (2008)
