Freemason jailed for cheating Masonic friends
Published Date: 04 April 2009
A former senior freemason from Northampton has been jailed for fraud after conning his masonic colleagues into letting him draw up their wills.
David Bell, of Ecton Brook, pleaded guilty at Leicester Crown Court to defrauding four of his friends in 2007, by creating wills after leading them to believe he still worked for The Will Writing Company, based in Nottingham.
But the court heard the 59-year-old, who was secretary of a masonic lodge in Northampton at the time, had resigned from the firm after an investigation into his conduct and was pocketing the cash himself.
The victims, whom he knew through his freemasons' lodge, were led to believe through emails and company notepaper that they were insured and the wills had been examined by a team of expert solicitors.
The court heard experts later declared the wills "not fit for purpose" and said family members may have needed to sue each other over the estate, had any of the victims died before the con was discovered.
Source:
Freemason jailed for cheating Masonic friends - Northampton Chronicle and Echo
Published Date: 04 April 2009
A former senior freemason from Northampton has been jailed for fraud after conning his masonic colleagues into letting him draw up their wills.
David Bell, of Ecton Brook, pleaded guilty at Leicester Crown Court to defrauding four of his friends in 2007, by creating wills after leading them to believe he still worked for The Will Writing Company, based in Nottingham.
But the court heard the 59-year-old, who was secretary of a masonic lodge in Northampton at the time, had resigned from the firm after an investigation into his conduct and was pocketing the cash himself.
The victims, whom he knew through his freemasons' lodge, were led to believe through emails and company notepaper that they were insured and the wills had been examined by a team of expert solicitors.
The court heard experts later declared the wills "not fit for purpose" and said family members may have needed to sue each other over the estate, had any of the victims died before the con was discovered.
Source:
Freemason jailed for cheating Masonic friends - Northampton Chronicle and Echo