A fraudster who stole more than £78,000 from an actress suffering from dementia has been ordered to pay back just £550. He took advantage of the vulnerable woman after he was put in charge of her finances.
Brian Malam, 60, had the power of attorney over his friend Margaret Wright, better known by her professional name Meg Wynn Owen under which she featured in a host of popular TV shows and films including Love Actually, Doctor Who, Under Milk Wood, Pride and Prejudice, and Upstairs Downstairs. She died in June last year.
Prior to her death, Malam spent years stealing thousands of pounds of her savings over Mrs Wright, a woman he had been friends with for many years having met through their work at the BBC . She was living in a car home in Cardiff due to her suffering from dementia. Malam would visit her but visits became lest frequent before stopping all together.
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During this time, the defendant was helping himself to tens of thousands of pounds from her savings account through a combination of bank transfers to his own account, direct spending, and cash withdrawals. Malam was supposed to carry out was putting money into a special account which staff at the care home could use to buy essentials for Mrs Wright but, apart from a handful of such payments, he failed to do so. A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard the result of this failure was that staff had no money to buy clothes for Mrs Wright, and she had to be dressed in clothes which had belonged to deceased residents. There was also no money to pay for a hairdresser to visit Mrs Wright so staff had to cut her hair.
Due to concerns about her financial situation, in October 2014 staff accompanied Mrs Wright to her bank and her statements were examined - the prosecutor said when the details of what had been happened were revealed Mrs Wright became very upset. The matter was referred to the Office of the Public Guardian who carried out an investigation before passing it to police.
Malam was arrested, and in his subsequent interview admitted spending "tens of thousands of pounds" of Mrs Wright's money but said he had intended to pay her back. He said he thought she would have wanted him to have the money as she had told him that he would inherit her money when she died. Malam told officers he had spent the money on materials in connection with his work as a costume designer. The final closing balance of Mrs Wright's main bank account showed it was £1,750 in the red. Another account contained £229 while other accounts contained just pennies. Malam, of Bradford Street, Grangetown, Cardiff, pleaded guilty to fraud and sentenced to 32 months imprisonment.
A Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday heard Malam had benefited to the tune of £78,064 as a result of the fraud but only had assets worth £550. Judge Niclas Parry ordered for that amount to be paid within three months or the defendant will serve an additional two months imprisonment.
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