A former lawyer has been jailed for a "calculated and heartless" scheme which saw him embezzle £120,000 from an elderly woman with dementia.
John Sinclair, 69, of Aberdeen was given power of attorney over the pensioner, who was living in a nursing home, in 2014.
The former lawyer transferred sums of money from the victim's account to his own, falsely insisting he had been given her permission to do so.
He provided a note, which he had written, to suspicious colleagues saying he had authority to borrow money from her accounts but it had never been signed by the victim.
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His dishonesty was uncovered by colleagues at the law firm where he worked. They, in turn, referred the matter to a lawyer at another firm who then alerted the Law Society.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard how staff at James and George Collie Solicitors in Aberdeen became suspicious after a cashier detected an unfamiliar account linked to the woman’s finances.
The Law Society’s own internal procedures resulted in the police being called in.
Sinclair’s office was subsequently searched and a £66,000 tax demand from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs was discovered.
After being confronted, Sinclair repeatedly deleted computer entries in an attempt to cover his tracks.
He was sentenced to two years in prison for embezzlement and attempting to defeat the means of justice.
Alison McKenzie, Procurator Fiscal for Aberdeen, said: “This was a brazen and egregious betrayal of trust by a lawyer who took advantage of his position to embezzle money from an elderly lady who had dementia.
“John Sinclair carried out a calculated and heartless deception on someone who was mentally incapacitated.
“This conviction shows that prosecutors will seek to secure convictions without fear or favour to expose criminality by those who work in the justice system.”
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