A Rottingdean solicitor tasked with dealing with an elderly woman’s estate bought her house himself then agreed to sell it a month later for a half million profit, a court heard today.
Richard Walker, 54, has been charged with four counts of fraud in connection with Dorice Weller’s 17th century house Beestons, which Walker bought in 2021.
He’s also accused of charging the estate for work to the four to five-bedroom house which benefited himself, and of moving in before the sale was completed without paying the estate rent.
And the fourth count alleges he overcharged the estate for his legal services. He denies all four, and his trial started today.
Prosecuting at Brighton Crown Court, John Ojakovoh said: “This is a case about a fraud involving a solicitor, a will and a house.
“The will in this case left most of the deceased’s assets to five charities.
“The house was the main asset. The solicitor, this defendant, Mr Walker, the sole practitioner at his firm Walkers Solicitors, was entrusted to act in administering the estate.
“At the core of this case, he bought the deceased’s house himself for £775,000 then agreed its onward sale for £1.3 million, one month later.
“This represents a difference of more than half a million pounds, which is a benefit to himself and came at the expense of the charities involved.”
He said the works Walker charged to the estate which benefited himself included a buyer’s full building condition survey, chimney sweeping, heating oil and electricity consumed by Walker while he was living there before buying it, and wood treatment carried out after.
Mr Ojakovoh said Miss Weller drew up her will in 2019, appointing her nephew Wayne Flamank and a firm of conveyancing solicitors called Bailey and Co as her executors.
After £50,000 for Mr Flamank and £25,000 for her gardener Graeme Gravett, the rest of her estate was to be split between Barby Keel Animal Sanctuary, St Wilfred’s Hospice, The Donkey Sanctuary, Macmillan Cancer Support and PDSA (The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals)
When she died in June 2020, Mr Flamank asked Bailey and Co to step down after what he felt was an “abrupt” phone call, Mr Ojakovoh said, and asked to hire Walker instead.
He told the jury Walker reassured Mr Flamank he would “get it all sorted”, and Mr Flamank was happy to leave matters to him. Walker then took over the case, sending out correspondence before co-executors Bailey and Co agreed.
The trial continues.
Can’t trust anyone