The family of a widow with dementia claim she was allowed to withdraw more than $300,000 from a Westpac branch more than 24 months before she died.
The 89-year-old woman had been a customer of a Westpac branch on New Zealand’s North Island until her death on July 30, 2020.
The elderly woman made more than 70 ATM withdrawals between September 2017 and July 2020, totaling $305,000.
Her daughter claimed the bank allowed the transactions despite her informing them of her dementia and that she was a vulnerable customer.
An 89-year-old widow suffering from dementia withdrew more than $300,000 in cash from her Westpac account in the 34 months before her death (stock image)
Concerned about her mother’s health, the daughter contacted the Westpac branch in February 2020.
The bank added a note to her file saying she was a “vulnerable customer” and warned cashiers to “be careful with large or unusual transactions.”
Despite the warning, the elderly woman was able to withdraw $50,000 in five separate transactions using an ATM in the months before her death.
The daughter explained that she was “stunned” and that staff did not question the recordings.
She added that her mother had paid off her house and car and did not use the money for utility bills or credit card payments.
“What the hell did they think they were spending the money on?” the daughter said NZ Herald.
The daughter said she knew “something was wrong” about her mother in the months leading up to her death because she was angry and commenting on “people robbing her for money.”
Family members were trying to track down the total amount of cash the widow had withdrawn and believe more than $200,000 may have just “disappeared.”
‘I can’t prove it, but the money is missing. And the $23,000 she withdrew three weeks before her death was gone from her home,” the daughter said.
The daughter, who had been appointed as power of attorney for her mother, checked her mother’s bank statements for suspicious transactions.
The woman’s family made a formal complaint to Westpac and the Banking Ombudsman, claiming the bank failed in its duty of care to protect a vulnerable and elderly client (stock image)
She was shocked to discover that her mother had withdrawn more than $200,000 in cash in the last 18 months of her life.
The statements showed that the largest cash withdrawal at the branch in May 2019 was $24,000.
The daughter said she accompanied her mother on her last visit to the bank and saw the teller hand over an envelope containing $23,000, despite her mother not having a purse with her.
She explained that at the time she had no idea how much money her mother had withdrawn, but remembered the cashier saying it was a large amount of money.
“They made her walk out without a handbag with a Westpac envelope filled with cash. It was probably about 3 inches thick,” the daughter said.
The daughter confronted bank staff about the series of large cash withdrawals, claiming she was told they were ‘too scared’ to ask the pensioner why she needed the money.
They claimed the mother “might want to buy a mobility scooter” with the money.
The family contacted police suggesting the pensioner was a victim of elder abuse as she lived frugally and there was no evidence she had spent the money on herself.
An investigation was launched and a person of interest was questioned, but this was eventually closed as there was no evidence the person had received the money and police could not trace the money.
The family has since filed a formal complaint with the Australian bank, claiming it failed in its duty of care to protect a vulnerable and elderly client.
The complaint alleges Westpac tellers failed to question the cash withdrawals despite a vulnerable customer alert being added to her file.
The family has also filed a complaint with the Banking Ombudsman.
In a letter sent to the daughter in May, Westpac described the retired widow as a woman who was “highly respected” at the branch.
An overview of some transactions that the widow carried out before her death on July 30, 2020
The bank said its staff did not believe the woman had any “vulnerabilities” and that none of the recordings were suspicious.
The letter explained that it was common for the mother to withdraw money as this was how she used her bank account and managed her finances.
The bank’s additional staff shared the same opinion as the daughter, who indicated that her mother was not someone who should be questioned about her money.
Westpac said staff questioned the woman ‘several times’ about the reason for the withdrawals and that the woman was ‘confident and smart with money’.
“She was very private about her finances, which was acknowledged by her daughter… and our staff ultimately acted according to her instructions in processing the withdrawals,” Westpac said in a statement to NZ Herald.
The bank clerks asked additional questions about cash withdrawals after February 2020, in response to the ‘extra care’ code that had been placed on the woman’s account at the daughter’s request.
The elderly woman made three withdrawals in March totaling $25,000 and told staff she needed the money due to Covid-19 lockdowns.
The staff also asked about her last withdrawal of $23,000 and was told she needed the lump sum because she didn’t know when her next visit to the branch would be.
The staff claimed they felt “comfortable” handing over the money in an envelope, just as the woman was with her daughter.
In 2023, Australians aged 65 and over reported more than 72,000 scams, costing victims almost $121 million, according to the ACCC’s Scamwatch.