A woman was found to have withdrawn more than €46,000 from her elderly aunt's bank accounts without her aunt's knowledge or consent.
Yolanda Maria Vella was ordered by the court to refund the money to her aunt's heir, as her aunt had died in the course of the litigation.
The case was filed in 2011 by Carmela Spiteri against Ms Vella in which she claimed that Ms Vella had withdrawn €46,378.75 from her accounts with HSBC and Bank of Valletta without her knowledge or consent.
Ms Spiteri added that she had given Ms Vella, who was her niece, a general power of attorney, but had never authorised her to withdraw this money. She requested the court to order Ms Vella to reimburse her in full.
Ms Spiteri died in the course of the proceedings and was succeeded by her heir Paola Vassallo.
On her part Ms Vella claimed that she was entitled to withdraw the funds on the basis of the power of attorney issued in her favour and that she had acted in good faith.
Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti heard that in February 2010 Ms Spiteri and Ms Vella had gone together to Notary Charmaine Debono for a power of attorney in Ms Vella's favour.
In her testimony, Ms Spiteri told the court she thought she was doing so solely for Ms Vella to cash her pension cheques, and it was only later that she realised that she had been tricked.
But the notary testified that Ms Spiteri had wanted a general power of attorney and had mentioned her bank accounts.
The court heard that between March and July 2010 Ms Vella had withdrawn €46,378.75 from Ms Spiteri's accounts, and that Ms Spiteri was unaware of this fact.
Ms Vella had failed to explain to the court why she had withdrawn these sums, nor had she explained what had become of them. The court could therefore only conclude that Ms Vella had used the money for her sole benefit.
A person who held a power of attorney (mandatory) had to act in the best interests of the person who had granted such power (mandatory). The personal use by the mandatory of the assets of the mandatory was contrary to law and was a betrayal of the fiduciary duties of the mandatory.
The court ordered Ms Vella to refund the sum to Ms Spiteri's heir, together with interest from the date of the bank withdrawals.