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.
In October 2020, an estate agent at Foresters advised marketing the Grade II listed house at £825,000, while adding it was possible with a house like this, a buyer could fall in love with it and pay significantly more.
A few days later, a second estate agent Wood and Pilchers advised marketing it for £1.1 million.
In a text message sent a few weeks later, Walker texted Mr Flamank and offered to buy it for £825,000, saying his wife Lorraine would “not shut up about it” and mentioning the sale of their house, Lyndhurst, was set to complete in early 2021.
Matters became complicated when Miss Weller’s estranged son Perry Sabner, appointed solicitors to query the will and its execution.
Mr Ojakovoh said Walker began writing to Mr Sabner’s lawyers before he had been formally appointed to administer the will – and also said the “rural three bedroom property” was worth about £500,000 to £600,000 – while being aware it had been valued at up to £1.1 million.
After Mr Sabner’s lawyers repeatedly asked for Miss Weller’s medical records to prove she had capacity when signing her final will, Walker told Mr Flamank in November 2020 he could no longer purchase the house.
But after Mr Sabner’s lawyers stopped responding following medical records being sent, he renewed his offer.
By this time, substantial building work to fix the building’s drainage had been started by Mr Flamank’s building firm, which the prosecution says was reasonably charged to the estate.
But as the months went on, and after Walker had offered to buy the house, other works which the prosecution say was not necessary for the sale were also completed – and charged to the estate.
Meanwhile, a third valuation was commissioned from Peter Oliver, the estate agent who was selling Walker’s then home Lyndhurst, which stated the value of the house when Miss Weller died in June 2020 – known as a probate valuation carried out for tax purposes – was £750,000 to £775,000.
However, this would have been significantly lower than its estimated value on the date the estate agent visited, when prices had steeply risen because of the stamp duty holiday imposed during covid.
Walker’s email to Mr Flamank telling him about the offer did not make this clear. When Mr Flamank queried the low value, he said it was because the house needed a lot of work.
The trial continues.
Can’t trust anyone