Karen O'Brien, Gemma Gauci and Leanne Collins each deny conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation
Three women conspired to fake the will of an elderly man and get their hands on a share of his £320,000 estate, a court heard.
Karen O’Brien, Gemma Gauci and Leanne Collins – all from Tremorfa in Cardiff – each deny conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and are on trial at Cardiff Crown Court.
The court heard alleged victim James Wilmot, known as Jim, was 89 when he died at the University Hospital Llandough on October 20, 2014.
Prosecutor Clare Wilks said his estate was worth a total of £319,883.24 and the three defendants conspired to create a false will.
The court heard the document was created in 2013, but handwriting experts concluded the signature did not belong to Mr Wilmot.
Detective Constable Alex Jenkins, from South Wales Police, noted it looked as though the signature “had been traced”.
"She told me she was a long-lost cousin"
Prosecutors said O’Brien and Gauci, who posed as executors, took initial payments of around £4,000 each, followed by further payments of £10,000 each in December 2015.
Ms Wilks said they confirmed a month later they were happy to accept £87,000 for the sale of his property on Clydesmuir Road in Tremorfa.
She said that when concerns were raised about the validity of the will, they dismissed Mr Wilmot’s friend as “a trouble-making liar”.
Marilyn Saltmarsh, who was called to give evidence, said she regularly met up with Mr Wilmot for tea and cooked him dinner.
She told the court that following his death, she saw a woman at the property she had never seen before.
The witness said: “I asked who she was and she told me she was a long-lost cousin.
“She told me the solicitor had given her a key and the house was all hers.”
Ms Saltmarsh told the court she then saw the woman leaving the house, carrying items including paintings and a silver tray.
She said: “Every time I went to the shops, she was coming out of Jimmy’s house, bringing stuff with her.
“Whatever was in the house, she took, until there was nothing left. That went on until the house was cleared.”
O’Brien denies saying she was a long-lost cousin or removing anything from the property.
"I’m just a friendly person who’ll do anything for anyone"
In her police interview, she said they met in 2004 and described Mr Wilmot as a “good friend”.
She told police she would help with his shopping, cooking and gardening, as well as keeping him company.
O’Brien added: “I’m just a friendly person who’ll do anything for anyone. I never thought he had anything, any money, never in a million years.”
The defendant told officers she and Gauci cleaned his property following his death “out of respect” and that is when they found the will.
She told officers she had spent all the money she received.
In Collins’ police interview, she claimed she had witnessed the will being signed and was “100% sure” Mr Wilmot signed it himself.
She stated she did not know O’Brien and Gauci, had never benefited from the will and never discussed it with them.
Collins, a neighbour of Mr Wilmot, said: “I literally signed it and left. I never thought anything of it.”
O’Brien, 53, from Glenmuir Road; Gauci, 35, from Whitmuir Road; and Collins, 40, from Stenhousemuir Place, deny conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.
The trial continues.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/three-women-conspired-fake-elderly-12643677
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