A wicked step grandfather stole a huge inheritance from two young girls after their father tragically died of heart failure, a family member has revealed.
The unnamed man has refused to return the £8,366 he took from his late stepson’s account, which he had set up as the savings for his own two daughters, for more than two years despite complaints from the family and legal action.
The mother of the bereaved ex-wife wrote to the Daily Telegraph to describe the horrific ordeal, revealing that the money has still not been returned.
The step grandfather exploited a legal loophole to steal the money and has since declined to communicate with the out-of-pocket granddaughters or their relatives.
Barclays Bank, who had been holding the money, has been forced to pay out the outstanding sum and is now seeking to issue financial punishments to the step grandfather.
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The family were already in shock when the father suddenly died of a heart attack as a week earlier, his father had also died.
But that did not stop the man’s stepfather from quickly procuring a death certificate and gutting the Barclays account holding the girls’ savings.
He exploited a legal loophole in which banks will pay out sums under £50,000 to bereaved family members if they provide documents confirming their relation and the relative’s death.
The system is in place to remove the red tape for grieving families looking to secure their late relatives’ funds.
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The grandmother of the two girls whose savings were stolen, on the mother’s side, said her granddaughters’ “deep grief had only been exacerbated by the deliberate theft of their meagre savings”.
The grandmother took legal action by employing a solicitor to tackle what she viewed as “fraud” but it was to no avail.
Even when she received a probate – a proof of will – the step grandfather still did not pay the money to the intended beneficiaries.
Barclays has since compensated the two girls, with additional bonuses by way of the delay, but the step grandfather remains unpunished.
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