A jealous son fed up with his brother being “the favourite” faked family signatures to try to cheat him out of a £1.5million inheritance.
Peter Howes, 53, was jailed for four years and four months after being found guilty of five counts of fraud.
Howes, of Lechlade in Gloucestershire, resented being left to look after his ailing mother while his brother lived in first Hong Kong and then Singapore.
Howes, as an executor to a number of trusts and settlements, wound them up by forging the signatures of his mother Joyce and 55-year-old brother Jonathan.
He also cashed in two life insurance policies, worth just under £100,000 together, before pocketing the money.
The family estate should have been split equally between Howes and his brother, but he transferred cash into a joint account, set up between himself and his mother, before moving it into a sole account in his name.
The cash was then handed to former partners and used to buy a 40 per cent stake in an online gaming company.
But after Joyce died in November 2011 at the age of 81, Jonathan discovered his brother’s deception during a conversation with family lawyers.
Howes was found guilty after a three-week trial at Bristol Crown Court.
Recorder James Watson QC said he had been ruthless.
“This is a case which involves an unusual blend of both tragedy and seriousness, and in light of the latter the seriousness of your dishonesty and scale of the sums involved, it seems to me that I have no choice but to adopt a lengthy period of custody,” he said.
“On one level this case could be viewed simply as a breach of trust towards your mother, carried out in a systematic and methodical manner.
“Throughout this period your mother and brother trusted you to look after her.
“You did this in one respect but in terms of her finances you failed her dishonestly.
“You failed her in terms of your judgement and you have been convicted of dishonesty and abuse, and that word abuse can be used in its full sense of your role.”
Bristol Crown Court previously heard how heard Howes first came into contact with the family accounts when his father Thomas, set up a number of trusts in 2002 – shortly before he died.
A letter was sent to both brothers where they were told proceeds of the estate, upon the deaths of both Thomas and Joyce, “should be divided equally between them”.
Howes was given the principle responsibility for dealing with the administration of the trusts following Thomas’ death in August 2004.
He wound up one settlement, giving half the proceeds, £109,000, to his brother in Hong Kong, convincing him the rest of the money was still in the trusts.
But Howes began to look into other accounts where he faked his mother’s signature on an Aviva document enabling him to access the money, before purporting she had signed another to close a settlement. Around the same time Howes set up an online joint account, and transferred all the proceeds of the policies and settlements into it, including the sale of the childhood home for £1.075 million.
Howes wrote a letter to the judge which spoke of his “unreserved apology” and bitter regret.
Attribution:
Jealous Peter Howes, of Lechlade, jailed for four years for trying to cheat brother out of £1.5m inheritancePeter Howes, 53, was jailed for four years and four months after being found guilty of five counts of fraud.
Howes, of Lechlade in Gloucestershire, resented being left to look after his ailing mother while his brother lived in first Hong Kong and then Singapore.
Howes, as an executor to a number of trusts and settlements, wound them up by forging the signatures of his mother Joyce and 55-year-old brother Jonathan.
He also cashed in two life insurance policies, worth just under £100,000 together, before pocketing the money.
The family estate should have been split equally between Howes and his brother, but he transferred cash into a joint account, set up between himself and his mother, before moving it into a sole account in his name.
The cash was then handed to former partners and used to buy a 40 per cent stake in an online gaming company.
But after Joyce died in November 2011 at the age of 81, Jonathan discovered his brother’s deception during a conversation with family lawyers.
Howes was found guilty after a three-week trial at Bristol Crown Court.
Recorder James Watson QC said he had been ruthless.
“This is a case which involves an unusual blend of both tragedy and seriousness, and in light of the latter the seriousness of your dishonesty and scale of the sums involved, it seems to me that I have no choice but to adopt a lengthy period of custody,” he said.
“On one level this case could be viewed simply as a breach of trust towards your mother, carried out in a systematic and methodical manner.
“Throughout this period your mother and brother trusted you to look after her.
“You did this in one respect but in terms of her finances you failed her dishonestly.
“You failed her in terms of your judgement and you have been convicted of dishonesty and abuse, and that word abuse can be used in its full sense of your role.”
Bristol Crown Court previously heard how heard Howes first came into contact with the family accounts when his father Thomas, set up a number of trusts in 2002 – shortly before he died.
A letter was sent to both brothers where they were told proceeds of the estate, upon the deaths of both Thomas and Joyce, “should be divided equally between them”.
Howes was given the principle responsibility for dealing with the administration of the trusts following Thomas’ death in August 2004.
He wound up one settlement, giving half the proceeds, £109,000, to his brother in Hong Kong, convincing him the rest of the money was still in the trusts.
But Howes began to look into other accounts where he faked his mother’s signature on an Aviva document enabling him to access the money, before purporting she had signed another to close a settlement. Around the same time Howes set up an online joint account, and transferred all the proceeds of the policies and settlements into it, including the sale of the childhood home for £1.075 million.
Howes wrote a letter to the judge which spoke of his “unreserved apology” and bitter regret.
Attribution:
October 25, 2014
Gloucestershire Echo
http://www.gloucestershireecho.co.uk/Jealous-Peter-Howes-Lechlade-jailed-years-trying/story-23493244-detail/story.html#1dUEkiS6JDWo75yX.99
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