A financial advisor embezzled £212,000 after being trusted with the fortune of an elderly Scots widow as she battled dementia, a court heard.
Gordon Couch, 56, was given power of attorney over the affairs of frail Marjorie Stewart who went into an Edinburgh nursing home.
He was later made executor of her estate after Marjorie died aged 91, leaving a will instructing cash be paid to various charities and relatives.
Couch - who was battling personal debt problems - is accused of taking huge sums from the estate while beneficiaries received nothing.
He went on trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after pleading not guilty to a charge of embezzling the money over a six year period.
Fiscal depute Jack Caster read a joint minute of agreed facts, telling the jury how Marjorie grew up in Aberdeenshire before moving to Kenya with her husband where they lived for four decades.
Marjorie, a retired maths teacher, moved back to Edinburgh before her husband’s death in 1998, and the couple employed Couch as an independent financial advisor.
Couch, who ran his own Edinburgh-based firm called Utopia Financial Planning, was granted power of attorney over Marjorie’s finances.
She had been hospitalised after a fall in January 2012 and was found to have a host of medical issues, including heart disease and “cognitive impairment”. A doctor ruled Marjorie was “incapable” of making financial decisions due to dementia.
The court heard Couch was an executor following Marjorie’s death in September 2013. Her will included bequests to nephews and nieces alongside donations to charities, including Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation, along with £3000 for her house cleaner.
Mr Caster confirmed “to date no funds have been dispersed to any of the beneficiaries named in the will”.
The court heard premium bonds held by Marjorie, who had no children, worth £30,000 were sold and the cash put in her bank account by Couch.
Tens of thousands of pounds of national savings certificates, ISA funds, and shares were also sold and the money deposited in Marjorie’s account by the accused.
The court was told dozens of payments were transferred annually from Marjorie’s account into Couch’s account.
Couch transferred £195,538 from Marjorie’s account into his own between April 2009 and May 2015, as well as making further payments into his company account.
The court heard Couch and his wife had a debt management plan starting around 2008 to repay £117,800. The outstanding sum was £50,000 in 2015.
Giving evidence on Thursday, Gordon Mathew, a nephew of Marjorie, described her as “independent” and “generous” person who “believed the best of folk”.
The retired Church of Scotland minister said he’d inherited his aunt’s home in Edinburgh’s Barnton area, along with his sister, in her will.
Gordon, from Stirling, said the flat had been sold and funds issued, but there had been delays in payments to other beneficiaries from the will.
He said the family “communicated our dissatisfaction” with Couch over the hold-ups and were told he was wading through reams of paperwork.
Gordon, 73, said: “He seemed concerned that we were pursuing this like dogs with a bone.
“In one email Mr Couch wrote, ‘I’m only human,’ in reply to why things were dragging on. I found that unprofessional. He gave the impression of delaying tactics and this happened time after time.”
The witness said Marjorie had “undoubtedly” trusted Couch.
Couch, of Penicuik, Midlothian, denies embezzling £212,861 while holding power of attorney and executing Marjorie’s estate between April 1 2009 and May 11 2015.
The trial continues.
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