Solicitor Ordered to Repay Stolen Money

Thu, 21 May 2009

A solicitor who stole hundreds of thousands of pounds from a woman’s will has been ordered to repay more than £100,000. 62 year old Philip Totenhofer was last year jailed for three years after admitting six charges of theft from charities totalling nearly £200,000. Following the death of Ellen Grout in May 1998, she left her money to her son Ted, who struggled with learning difficulties. Upon Ted’s sudden death in May 2004, Mrs Grout’s lawyer, Mr Totenhofer, from Walton, had been instructed by the will to sell her home, pay for the funeral and other fees, including legal costs, and hand the remaining money to two charities.

However, when Mrs Grout’s other son, Peter, contacted the charities in 2007, he discovered that Mr Totenhofer had not passed on the money. Having been expelled by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Mr Totenhofer was sentenced to a term in jail and given six months to pay up. Failure to do so will result in eighteen months being added to his jail term. In total, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found him guilty of 16 allegations, including utilising money for his own benefit, acting as a solicitor without a certificate and overcharging.
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