Greedy mother used ill-gotten gains to pay for daughter’s private school fees

A greedy bank cashier who drained almost �300,000 from the accounts of a vulnerable pensioner has been jailed for five-and-a-half years.

Wood Green Crown Court heard Jyoti Patel, 53, from Kenton, blew �15,000 of Peter Lewis’ savings on fees for her daughter’s private school and another �62,000 on her son’s house deposit.

Patel, who worked at Barclays in Kingsbury Road, Kingsbury, forged documents to grant herself power of attorney before siphoning off his life savings and changing his will to leave all his assets to her husband and son.

She also rigged his account details so that bank statements were sent to her personally.

Mr Lewis, who lived in Harrow, was unable to care for himself due to partial blindness and the degenerative brain disorder Parkinson’s disease.

He died aged 85 in September 2009.

The scam was eventually uncovered after Mr Lewis’ solicitor became suspicious that he was not receiving bank statements.

During her trial, Patel claimed she had ‘good friends’ with Mr Lewis and that he had asked her to take charge of his affairs and act as his carer.

But before he died Mr Lewis told police he had never met her.

The bank has since refunded the cash in full and police are expected to apply for an order to confiscate Patels’ ill-gotten gains.

Yesterday (Thursday), Patel was found guilty on eight charges including theft, transferring of criminal property and forgery.

Detective Constable Darren Norton said: “This is a particularly distressing case as Jyoti Patel targeted an elderly man suffering from Parkinson’s Disease who could not see or hear properly.

“I am pleased that justice has finally been served, and I just wish he had lived long enough to witness it himself.”