Edinburgh financial advisor embezzled £170k from vulnerable OAP with dementia
| Author | Alan McEwan |
| Published date | 25 June 2022 |
| Publication title | EdinburghLive (Scotland) |
The crook claimed the retired maths teacher was aware he was charging her massive amounts, adding she viewed it as "good value for money".
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Couch continued to fleece Marjorie for reading mail at her bedside in an Edinburgh nursing home when doctors said she was no longer able to understand it.
But on Thursday a jury unanimously found him guilty of swindling Marjorie's fortune while holding power of attorney over her and acting as executor of her estate.
Couch's ex-wife Kerry earlier gave evidence against him at his trial in Edinburgh Sheriff Court, branding him a "compulsive liar", reports the Record.
Debt-ridden Couch took the witness stand and claimed it was Marjorie's wish he be paid huge sums for simple tasks.
The dad-of-two told how he charged her for checking the heating in her flat and pocketed fees for visiting her in hospital.
The shameless thief claimed the frail pensioner used up "40 per cent" of his time as a financial advisor even though she held only a basic portfolio of shares and premium bonds.
The court heard Couch lied in court documents after Marjorie's 2013 death, pretending she still had £75,000 in assets when he'd drained almost everything into his own bank account.
When the beneficiaries of her will, including relatives and charities, began asking questions about their bequests, Couch fled to Hong Kong.
The jury was told Couch took a finance job there as the "net was closing in", taking his family abroad under false pretences.
His former wife described how their marriage was crumbling and she returned to Scotland with their kids while Couch remained in Asia.
But with Marjorie's relatives pursuing her for answers over the missing cash, Kerry, 53, reported Couch to cops after learning he'd joined an online dating service.
Police swooped on board a flight landing at Heathrow Airport to arrest Couch in 2019 after he returned to the UK for a business conference.
The court heard Marjorie grew up in Aberdeenshire before moving to Kenya with her husband where they lived for four decades.
The couple, who had no children, moved back to Edinburgh before her husband's death in 1998, and they employed Couch as an independent financial advisor.
Giving evidence, Couch told how he changed his Edinburgh-based firm, called Utopia Financial...
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