A man who stole £250k from his dementia-stricken mum to fund luxurious holidays to Dubai has been jailed.
Karl Zierold, 56, stole the cash after being appointed as the lasting power of attorney over his mother’s financial affairs.
Following his appointment he splashed out thousands on a luxurious lifestyle which included holidays abroad, payments on a new Mercedes, and £180,000 to a prospective business partner.
His offending was only discovered when his siblings became aware of an unpaid mechanic bill and challenged him about it.
Later, Mr Zierold admitted in letters to his family that he had funded his extravagant lifestyle by stealing from his mum.
The court heard how Zierold’s mother was moved to full-time residential care in 2019 and soon after the lasting power of attorney was put in place.
Later Zierold reportedly resisted attempts by his siblings to convince him to invest the money, it wasn’t until later they realised the defendant had removed the majority of the money.
The extent of Zierold’s spending was discovered by his brother James who found over £220,000 had gone missing from the fund.
Prosecuting Megan Edwards said: He found all the money had been removed from the bank account into the defendant’s. He asked the bank to check, who said that over £247,000 had been removed.”
The MEN reports that following the incident, the court heard how James reported Zierold to the Office of Public Guardian who then investigated.
After the investigation began, Zierold removed himself as the lasting power of attorney which stopped the investigation.
However, this did not change what he had done and now his siblings say there isn’t enough money to cover the cost of their mother’s care.
Zierold’s sister Heidi explained: “She wanted to make sure that in her old age, she had a nest egg to look after her and have a small amount for her children. We no longer have enough to pay for her care.”
Judge Jason MacAdam told Zierold: “Your mother was a hard-working person all her life, putting money aside so others would not bear the burden of responsibility of caring for her in her old age.
The phrase ‘chip off the old block’ is as far removed as can be possible when it comes to you. You don’t serve to shoulder the burden for others – you are a burden on others.
“It’s hard to think of somebody standing in that dock that should be more ashamed of themselves as you should be.”
Zierold has been jailed for 40 months, but will only serve half of it in custody.
