Glaswegian IFA, Mark Townson, stole the money from a retired pilot – who was suffering from dementia before he passed away – and the elderly man’s 91-year-old wife to pay off his own debts, the Herald Scotland reported at the weekend.
The couple had built a £1.4m nest-egg, of which a third was stolen by Townson between January 2011 and December 2012.
During the thefts, Townson had been working for London-headquartered financial services firm, Legal & General, a company he had been with for 18 years. The former professional cricketer had been employed as an adviser at a Glasgow-based branch of Virgin Money – which has a partnership with L&G – when he met the couple.
A spokeswoman for L&G said the theft “shouldn’t have happened” but that the victims had received an apology and all their money had been returned.
Townson firmly denied stealing from the elderly couple, and claimed they had given the initial £385,090 to him as a gift, Paisley Sheriff Court heard.
He said the remaining £80,000 had been given to him as an investment after he claimed he could make the couple 5% profit.
“Appalling crime”
“The only appropriate way of dealing with this matter is a substantial prison sentence,” said Sheriff Tom McCartney during sentencing.
A spokesman for Virgin Money said: “We take the safety and security of our customers extremely seriously and it was through the vigilance of our colleagues that this appalling crime was identified.”
