An Adelaide lawyer has been found guilty of stealing $850,000 from two deceased estates and fabricating documents claiming the money had been invested in Australian opal in order to cover his tracks.Stephen Patrick McNamara was the architect of an elaborate scam involving two deceased estates
Over an 18-month period, McNamara drained funds from the first estate, worth $480,000, and used the money to pay off his mortgage, personal credit cards and staff wages.to get their entitlements then started to mount. It was the beneficiaries of the second estate who made a complaint to the Law Society of South Australia, which triggered an investigation.
As part of those proceedings, McNamara and Mr Pitman provided signed affidavits and a letter to the court stating the estate funds had been invested.
Lawyers, used car salesmen and politicians are all tarred with the same brush.
Regrettably, this behaviour is not an isolated case. Lawyers acting as Powers of Attorney are known to siphon off monies from deceased estates with little or no chance of being found out. That is until the Law Society becomes involved.
Karma
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