Bank worker jailed for stealing from elderly client

Jyoti Patel

Bank employee Jyoti Patel (Pictured), 53, from Kenton in Harrow, preyed upon the vulnerability of the partially blind man, unlawfully taking over his existing accounts, setting-up new accounts in his name and siphoning the man’s money into her own son’s bank account. The victim was in his eighties and unable to care for himself. He died in September 2009.

In April, after a two-week trial, Patel was found guilty of eight charges including theft, transferring of criminal property and forgery. The jury at Wood Green Crown Court took less than an hour to decide on the verdicts. 

While working at a London branch of the bank, Patel made large cash withdrawals from the elderly man’s accounts using some of the proceeds to fund her daughter’s £15,000 private school fees, while £62,000 was used as a deposit on a house for her son.

Patel forged documents, naming herself as the victim’s power of attorney and organised for a new Will and Testament in the man’s name that signed over all his assets to her husband and son.

Patel’s scam was uncovered after the victim’s solicitor noted neither they nor their client had received bank statements for sometime. Later it was revealed Patel had changed the man’s correspondence details, so bank statements were sent directly to her at the branch address.

The jury was not convinced by Patel’s defence which argued that she had been a carer and good friend to the man. She claimed she had been framed and that the man had asked her to take over his financial affairs and had knowingly changed his Will.

Police interviewed the man before his death in 2009 and he confirmed he was not aware of Patel’s activities or the changes to his Will and Testament and power of attorney.

City of London Police officer DC Darren Norton who led the case 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. She took advantage of the fact he needed assistance when signing papers at the bank and saw an opportunity to steal his money in the belief that he may die before the theft was discovered.

"The frail gentleman was able to provide us with damning evidence before he passed away in 2009 which helped us convict Jyoti Patel. I am pleased that justice has finally been served, and I just wish he had lived long enough to witness it himself."