Paralegal jailed for stealing from vulnerable clients

A woman has been jailed after she used her role in a law firm to exploit money from two vulnerable clients.

Emma Charlotte Amey, 45, of Honeysuckle Lane in Poole, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by abuse of position at Poole Magistrates' Court on Wednesday 14 May.

Amey was working as a paralegal in the wills and probate department at a law firm in Poole at the time of her offending, and her victims were two men living in residential homes.

She was jailed for 20 months at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday.

The fraudulent activity took place between October 2021 and October 2023.

Amey's work involved managing accounts for clients where the firm held power of attorney, and she would pay expenses or bills on their behalf using a chequebook or debit card.

An investigation began in February 2024 after the bank returned a potentially fraudulent cheque to the law firm.

When the law firm looked into it further, the corresponding cheque stub was made out to a care company. However, the cheque itself was addressed to Amey for a total of £3,400.

The employer confronted Amey and she admitted to taking the money using cheques.

She used an erasable pen on them, then changed the payee's name to her own after they had been signed by someone else at the firm.

She also admitted to using debit cards belonging to the victims to withdraw cash for herself, and for online transactions.

In total, Amey stole a total of £11,568 from the two victims.

Det Con Lucy Hale of Dorset Police said Amey was "entrusted with looking after the day-to-day finances of vulnerable" people.

"She abused her position for personal gain," she said.

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