Hi JonCris I am the the executor of my mums will and I was left as beneficiary. I still cant seem to recover any of the losses caused by the accountant and the estranged relative though - as legal representation in such a case is proving difficult.

Hi Conniff Unfortunately here in Scotland, there are rules from the Law Society which allow Solicitors to keep any part of a file they dont want to disclose, and believe me, they use that rule very well when it comes to trying to discover what wrongs have been going on in a case such as what happened to my mum. Just for example, in another case I had to recover the file on (that relating to the death of my father), the lawyer involved was investigated by the Law Society and they found he had faked up many parts of the file to try and escape discovery - but the Law Society did nothing against him in the end. Hi JonCris Thanks for that. While the letter of authority died with my mum, it hasn't stopped the accountant and the 'estranged' relative making my life a living hell, trying to cover their tracks for what they did. The only bonus to me is that I have those documents I published on the web, and will try to press for a criminal inquiry into events as much as I can. I assume every obstacle will be placed in my path as usual !

Hi kennythecelt it looks like the accountant took the pension book sometime during early 1990, and it wasn't returned to my mum until late 1992, after she said she was worried what he was doing with it. The benefits agency are reluctant to say anything about it, wont give me any reasons for what happened, and no detail about where the money went, although it seems the accountant was either getting the lot, or was in control of it.My mum certainly didn't seem to be able to get her pension.. I presume the benefits agency silence indicates they are a bit worried now I have published the documents, and it looks like they were not privy to the other scheme the accountant had in place - that of taking total control over all my mums money for himself ... I am going to push for a Police inquiry into it and see what happens, but it will be difficult - the accountant and his lawyer friends in the Borders are all sticking together, so the more publicity on it the better hopefully to shake something loose.

Hi JonCris and thanks for that info. Actually from what I have found, there was no legal power of attorney signed, all there exists is a letter, handwritten by my mother which she told me at the time, was dictated for her to write out, unwitnessed,not even in the presence of her lawyer, giving the accountant right to represent her interests. I was able to put a stop to the drain on my mums money at the time, but we couldn't get the documents from her ex lawyer until after she was dead - the lawyer simply ignoring requests for the file. What I will do is ask the Police to investigate what happened, but I would also like to recover the cash which was drained away by the accountants involvement and that of the niece who demanded and received a 15k 'gift' from my mum - which was supposedly a loan, then turned into the 'gift' etc .... I am the executor of my mums estate so I hope that givers me further standing in this, although at the end of the day it comes down to whether the authorities will investigate this properly, and the accountant and his friends seem to have a lot of clout in the Borders, where it happened, so that part of it may prove difficult. They are very upset of course over me publishing the whole thing, and the papers I was lucky enough to get my hands on, still, everything I wrote is true, so nothing can really be disputed, its just a case of getting someone in authority to do something about it - much the same problem I see others face when they try to report a con such as what happened to my mum.

Thanks JonCris I will try them too thanks. The problem for me maybe is that since the issues happened a few years ago, time bar will come into it - another factor why my late mum's ex lawyer waited as long as he could before handing over the papers I have posted on the internet. Perhaps though if there is a Police inquiry after all that has occurred, things might be shaken loose. I'd be interested to hear from anyone in the same predicament with a relative who was conned in the same way that happened to my mum.

Hi Wino The case is complicated to say the least, especially because of the involvement of a 'long lost relative' of my mum who decided she would be helping herself along with the accountant to my mothers money. When this was all discovered, the accountant actually ran to the Police and filed a complaint against me ! to cover his tracks, although the Police sussed that one out and while I was told he was 'warned' not to make further false statements, they did nothing more. Maybe its time I asked the higher ups in the Law to investigate, and I will try that, thanks. My concern especially is the benefits book thing - a former employee of the benefits agency said they thought that move - the accountant taking my mums pension book was actually illegal itself, and they wondered how on earth he got anyone there to agree to hand it over. Hi kennythecelt Thanks for replying too. I will ask Cameron Fyfe if something can be done, although the problem is this accountant, and his regulatory body have effectively went round the lawyers and said - dont help Mr Cherbi on this ... I will try though.

Hi wino and thanks for replying. No there isn't an Ombudsman for accountants in Scotland - they only have their own self regulatory organisations. In this case, it was the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland I reported the accountant to. ICAS conducted an investigation and simply covered the whole thing up - their legal chief even denying the existence of the documents and matters I have now posted on the web, documents I only came by after my late mum's lawyer decided to hand them over and reveal the true extent of the con against my mum by the accountant and the 'long lost' relative. I cant really get answers to anything at all - not even how the accountant was able to appropriate my mums pension book from the benefits agency and keep it for himself. I dare say it goes on a lot but even though I have all the documents proving it, can't seem to budge the issue at all or get any justice.

I have been trying to get answers on a serious matter where a private accountant, who was executor in my late father's estate, forced my now deceased mother to make her his representative. He went on to confiscate my late mum's pension book, attempt to force her to sign a trust giving him full control over all her assets, and basically, her life, and saw that about 15k was handed to a long estranged relative of my mum who simply came back into the picture to get as much money as she could for herself when she heard my mum had come into money. I wrote about this online here : A Diary of Injustice in Scotland - by Peter Cherbi: A picture is worth a thousand words - Images of fraud reveal corruption & deceit by lawyers & accountants in the Scottish Borders What I wrote on the matter is comparable to many recent frauds against the elderly & vulnerable, which I recently covered in a story here, and which I am including in a petition to the Scottish Parliament soon on asking for increased protection for the elderly & vulnerable : A Diary of Injustice in Scotland - by Peter Cherbi: Lack of protection for 'too trusting' elderly & incapacitated against those who take the most must be corrected in law I wonder if anyone has any advice for me on how to tackle the situation of what happened to my mum, and if I could ever get a resolution to the case ? My problem is I cannot get legal representation in Scotland at all, no lawyer wants to touch it yet all agree it is a terrible case and should not have happened ...