Aberdeen lawyer jailed for embezzling £120,000 from pensioner
- Published
Sinclair was jailed at Aberdeen Sheriff Court
An Aberdeen lawyer who embezzled £120,000 from a dementia sufferer in her 90s has been jailed for two years.
John Sinclair, 69, stole the money from the woman, who was living in a nursing home, after being named her power of attorney in 2014.
Colleagues raised concerns and detectives were then called in.
Sinclair was jailed after being found guilty of embezzlement and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court had heard how staff at James and George Collie Solicitors in Aberdeen became suspicious after a cashier detected an unfamiliar account linked to the woman's finances.
After being confronted, Sinclair repeatedly deleted computer entries in bid to cover his tracks.
The court heard that he also provided officials at the Law Society with a note written by himself saying he had authority to borrow money from her accounts.
'Brazen betrayal of trust'
However the note was never signed by his victim.
Speaking after Sinclair was jailed on Tuesday, Alison McKenzie, procurator fiscal for Aberdeen, said: "This was a brazen and egregious betrayal of trust by a lawyer who took advantage of his position to embezzle money from an elderly lady who had dementia.
"John Sinclair carried out a calculated and heartless deception on someone who was mentally incapacitated.
"This conviction shows that prosecutors will seek to secure convictions without fear or favour to expose criminality by those who work in the justice system."