The Law Society’s Law Gazette magazine this week reported a story of an unregulated Will-writer who was jailed for fraudulently charging more than 125 clients between £30 and £60 to ‘fix’ a non-existent problem with their Wills.
Walter Ventriglia, 47, of Berkshire, ran a company called ‘Legacy & Law’ as a will-writing firm. According to the report, he wrote to clients under the alias Tony Edwards to advise them that under changes to the law their Wills would become invalid unless they hired him to make the necessary amendments. Needless to say, no such changes to the laws had been made.
Ventriglia also ran what he alleged was a Will-storage company, claiming the documents were stored in a secure facility in London where in fact he kept them at his home, in an airing cupboard.
Reading Crown Court sentensed Ventriglia on 19 August after he pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading under Section 9 of the Fraud Act 2006.
For the full report by Jonathon Rayner, please see the Law Society’s report.
For further information on Wills, please see our website www.morrishsolicitors.com or you can contact our Elderly Client Services team on 0113 250 7792.
Probate, Wills and the Elderly 