A solicitor has been officially struck off the roll after being convicted of two counts of fraud by abuse of position, which saw her steal around £85,000 from vulnerable clients
Alison Griffiths has been officially struck from the roll of solicitors after being convicted of stealing money from two vulnerable clients, and abusing her position.
From one client, a 94-year-old woman, Griffiths stole £49,482.52 over a three-year period. Between 2018 and 2021, she routinely transferred money from the elderly woman’s bank account to her own and made repeated withdrawals from her client’s account at cash machines.
While police were investigating this first case, it was reported to them that Griffiths, 56, had also been stealing from another victim, an 80-year-old man, who has since passed away. She admitted she had continued to steal from him – £35,790 in total – even after she had been reported to the police in 2021.
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Griffiths had lasting power of attorney for both of the victims, which means she had been appointed to make decisions on their behalf. This comes into play when someone no longer has the mental capacity to make their health, care, legal, or financial decisions themselves.
Her theft from the 80-year-old man was noticed when his family was alerted to a failed payment for his care due to insufficient funds – a report was then made to the police in September 2021, and it was found she had been stealing vasts sums from him since March that year.
The Swindon-based former solicitor pleaded guilty to both counts of fraud by abuse of position, and was jailed for 24 months in February 2024 – the Solicitor’s Disciplinary Tribunal’s decision means she will not work as a lawyer again.
The Tribunal noted in their decision remarks made by the Judge in his sentencing of Griffiths, that the 94-year-old woman she had been stealing from was “a vulnerable victim because she had dementia and no family… she was unable to monitor her own finances, and there was nobody to operate as a check and balance”.
In a press release from the time of the disgraced solicitor’s sentencing, DC Dominic Maidment from Wiltshire Police called the case “awful” and noted that fraud can “devastate families”.
“These are two awful situations where Griffiths has taken advantage of her position and stolen tens of thousands of pounds from two vulnerable adults, one of whom is sadly no longer with us,” he said.
“As power of attorney, Griffiths was expected to safeguard the finances of the victims and act on their behalf in their best interests.
“Instead, she has abused their trust by transferring significant sums of money from their accounts into hers, meaning that in one of the cases, there was no money to pay for the victim’s care.
“Wiltshire Police will always seek to protect the most vulnerable in society and pursue those who take advantage to benefit themselves. Fraud can and does devastate families. I hope that this sentencing sends a clear message about how seriously police and the courts take such offences.”