Will Fraud Exposes UK Inheritance Risks

Ghost Wills: The Criminal Network Plundering Millions from Britain's Deceased

An audacious criminal enterprise is systematically exploiting critical flaws in the United Kingdom's probate system. The group forges the wills of deceased individuals to unlawfully seize millions of pounds in assets, leaving rightful heirs dispossessed and authorities struggling to respond. Investigations reveal a sophisticated operation that targets estates with no known heirs, engages in major tax avoidance, and leverages a digital-first government system that has sacrificed security for speed. The gang's activities expose a crisis at the heart of how the nation handles the final wishes of its citizens, with devastating consequences for grieving families.

Recent cases have shone a spotlight on this alarming trend, revealing a consistent pattern of fraud. Following a recent investigation, the government has taken the drastic step of temporarily removing its public list of estates with no known heirs, known as the Bona Vacantia list, to prevent further exploitation. However, for many families, this action comes too late.

A Life-Changing Sum, Snatched Away

Toward the end of 2023, the lives of sisters Lisa and Nicole were poised for a significant change. They received news about being beneficiaries of a large inheritance from Christine Harverson, their late aunt. This unexpected development offered a future of financial stability. But just as they began to absorb this reality, their inheritance was taken from them. A man, a complete stranger to Christine's circle, materialised with a purported will. This document identified him as the exclusive recipient of Christine’s entire fortune, which included a residence in south London.

The sisters, who had not interacted with their aunt since their early childhood, were first made aware by Anglia Research Services, a professional "heir-finder" firm. These companies locate the legitimate relatives of people who pass away without a recognised will. They work by examining a state-maintained directory of such estates. In return for a percentage of the assets, they handle the legalities for the inheritors. On this occasion, their progress was halted.

The Suspicious 'Dear Friend'

The probate submission for Lisa and Nicole was stopped by the emergence of a Hungarian national, Tamas Szvercsok. He furnished the probate authorities with a document that painted him as Christine's "dear friend." This testament assigned him the role of the only executor and declared him the beneficiary of her complete assets. The document specifically nullified all preceding testaments and stipulated that after settling any outstanding payments and funeral arrangements, the full balance of the estate, covering all real estate and monetary holdings, should pass to him.

Initial doubts were handled with caution. A former constable now with Anglia Research, Matt Boardman, observed that authentic wills can sometimes appear late in the process. Yet, the situation surrounding this specific document immediately generated several major concerns. The assertion seemed extremely unlikely from the start, casting a significant shadow over its validity and triggering a more thorough examination of the man poised to inherit everything.

A Web of Inconsistencies

The questions about Tamas Szvercsok's assertion rapidly grew into solid disbelief as alarming facts emerged. Christine’s close companion and neighbour, Sue, had no recollection of a Hungarian acquaintance during all the years she was familiar with her. Additionally, the testament carried a 2016 date, a period when Christine was confined to her home with a disability and had almost no company. The document's provisions would have denied any inheritance to her spouse, Dennis, who was her caregiver and living at that time. From a legal standpoint, Christine was unable to pass on their co-owned home without his agreement.

The mistakes in the testament were even more conclusive. An error was present in the spelling of Christine's home address. Most critically, the address listed for Mr. Szvercsok was an apartment complex that was not even built before 2021, five years after the document was supposedly created. Despite this compelling proof, both the constabulary and probate officials declined to look into it, telling the sisters they must finance an expensive civil lawsuit to dispute the will.

The State's Shopping List for Fraudsters

The simplicity with which these criminals function reveals a major weakness in UK legislation. The official state list of uninherited properties in England and Wales is known by the Latin phrase Bona Vacantia, meaning "ownerless goods." This catalogue, which has around 6,000 entries and is refreshed each day, is available to the public on the internet. While legitimate heir-locating firms consult it to link beneficiaries with their rightful assets, it has also developed into a key instrument for criminals. A con artist can easily pick out an appealing entry on the list, fabricate a testament, and seek a grant of administration to capture the whole estate.

This issue has been made worse by the transition to a digital framework. Since 2017, requesting probate can be done digitally, but dissenters complain the framework is ineffective at flagging dubious submissions. This online procedure also seems to present more chances for significant tax deception.

Exploiting a System Built on Trust

When an individual passes on, their holdings are subject to evaluation for inheritance duty. In the UK, properties valued at £325,000 or less are not taxed, but any value beyond that point is generally taxed at a 40 percent rate. The person who secures the grant of administration is tasked with confirming this duty is paid. With the existing online setup, however, those applying are only asked to state that no duty is payable. This arrangement, which is founded almost wholly on honesty, creates a clear opportunity for manipulation.

Inquiries have uncovered numerous situations where holdings, including real estate of much higher value, were appraised at amounts just under the £325,000 inheritance duty limit. This strategy helps criminals not only to take the holdings but also to cheat the public coffers by sidestepping large tax bills. The framework does not have the strong verification needed to check these appraisals, creating a low-risk, high-return venture for criminal groups.

The Case of the Reclusive Gentleman

The circumstances of Charles Haxton offer another clear illustration of the gang’s tactics. Mr. Haxton led a solitary existence in a Tooting terraced home in south London. When he died in 2021, a will was not located, and his information was added to the Bona Vacantia list. Anglia Research reached out to some of his cousins, telling them they stood to gain from his estate. Shortly after, just as with the family of Christine Harverson, they were informed a testament had now been found.

This document passed everything to an individual named Roland Silye, who was also Hungarian, like Tamas Szvercsok. The relatives were at first willing to believe his story about being a long-time acquaintance of Mr. Haxton. But one of the cousins, Barry, secured a version of the will and was taken aback by its strange and questionable content.

The Phantom Property Plot

The testament put forward by Roland Silye was fundamentally defective. It granted him two homes: Mr. Haxton’s London residence and, strangely, a property in Hertfordshire. The combined valuation of these homes was around £2 million. Yet, Mr. Silye declared the estate's worth as only £320,500, a sum just £4,500 under the inheritance duty limit. The most obvious discrepancy was that Charles Haxton had no prior ownership of or any association with any home in Hertfordshire.

A trip to the Hertfordshire location showed a big, run-down building that local residents said had been empty for many years. The inclusion of this non-existent property was an audacious and strange tactic. The probate authority, however, greenlit the will without inquiry, neglecting to conduct the simple verifications that would have uncovered the deception.

Image Credit - BBC

A Strategy for a Future Heist

The reasoning behind adding the false link to the Hertfordshire home is still a matter of conjecture. A partner at a different heir-locating business, Fraser and Fraser, Neil Fraser suspects it could have been a bold move to create a false claim on the abandoned building. He suggested that Mr. Silye probably spotted the derelict property and chose to include it in the fake testament as a way to obtain it. While the deceptive will would not give him instant legal rights to the Hertfordshire home, it might be used as leverage in a later bid to secure ownership, especially after the death of the true owner, a woman in her seventies.

Mr. Fraser stated that despite flagging his concerns to both the constabulary and the probate authority, no steps were taken. This inaction let the deception continue without challenge.

A Clear and Disturbing Pattern

The criminal technique became more obvious when the name Roland Silye was tied to a different estate. He also managed to secure administration for the holdings of George Woon, an older man from west London's Southall, who passed away in 2021. In the same way as with Charles Haxton, Mr. Woon’s details were listed on Bona Vacantia soon after his death. Mr. Silye then appeared with a testament designating him the only beneficiary. The residence of Mr. Woon was later auctioned for £360,000, probably another instance of devaluing holdings to sidestep inheritance duty.

This repeated approach—focusing on uninherited estates from a public directory and fabricating a will—suggested not a string of unrelated crimes, but a methodical and coordinated criminal scheme.

Connecting the Corporate Dots

To grasp the network's scope, financial crime specialist Graham Barrow was enlisted to look for possible links among the people involved. He studied the ties between Tamas Szvercsok and Roland Silye. Both men have Hungarian-sounding names and, based on Companies House information, both serve as directors in a complicated and interwoven network of businesses. Mr. Barrow discovered that the exact same address that Mr. Szvercsok listed in the deceptive will for Christine Harverson was also employed by Mr. Silye for several of his business ventures.

This overlap of addresses and board positions offered solid proof connecting the apparently unrelated incidents of deception. The business arrangements seemed created to hide their actions.

The Façade of Legitimate Business

The businesses tied to the criminals have a vague mission. A number have been removed from the official directory for using false addresses, and others received official warnings because they did not submit required financial documents. According to Graham Barrow, this arrangement of numerous businesses with shared addresses and similar names is a textbook sign of a criminal organization. He clarified that having many companies lets criminals shift illicit money through various accounts and places, a method for laundering funds that makes it much harder for authorities to follow the illegal money.

This corporate structure acted as a cover, creating a sense of legitimacy while letting the culprits handle and hide their criminal gains.

Another Victim, Another Fraudster

The organization reaches even further. Bela Kovacs, another individual with a Hungarian name, is a notable figure in this business network. A 2021 testament named Mr. Kovacs as the exclusive beneficiary of all the holdings of Michael Judd, a Pinner resident in west London. Locals described Mr. Judd as a man of many talents with a noteworthy history in intelligence work. In his later life, though, he had started to hoard items and infrequently went outside. This self-imposed seclusion made him another perfect mark for the criminal organization.

When contacted at a high-end property near Watford, Mr. Kovacs would not engage in any discussion about his link to Michael Judd or the testament that made him a rich man.

An Unlikely Last Testament

The assertion from Bela Kovacs was extremely doubtful. A neighbour, Chris, remembered a chat with Michael Judd only months before he died in 2024. Mr. Judd informed Chris he had drafted a will a long while back, but every person included in it had since passed away. He also mentioned that he was unsure of the document's location, commenting that he should probably try to find it eventually.

This chat makes it unbelievable that Mr. Judd would have prepared a fresh testament just three years before, in 2021, passing everything to a person he did not know. It is a strong indication that the document from Mr. Kovacs was one more fake, a component of the identical criminal strategy seen in the other incidents.

The Forger’s Telltale Handwriting

The links among these incidents are not merely coincidental. An expert in handwriting, Christina Strang, reviewed the testaments drafted for Charles Haxton, George Woon, and others. She determined they seem to be the creation of a single individual. Her review found unique and repeated traits in the documents. She observed that the digits two, four, and seven were formed identically across multiple addresses. Ms. Strang also found other clear resemblances, such as the gaps between letters in various signatures and how those signatures were placed on the line.

Her professional judgment indicates one forger is creating these deceptive documents, a central figure in the criminal organization.

One Hand Behind Many Fakes

Christina Strang posits the forger's efforts went past just replicating the signatures of the deceased. She suspects the same individual also faked the signatures of the people listed as witnesses on the testaments. Inquiries showed that none of the witnesses seemed to have any connection to the person who died. In certain cases, the witnesses might have been completely made-up people created for the deception. This degree of planned trickery supports the idea that these are not spontaneous, single crimes. They are instead the output of a highly organized and methodical criminal scheme that has perfected its tactics for the greatest impact and lowest risk.

Image Credit - BBC

Authorities Begin to Act

Following these inquiries, some measures have now been implemented. The banking facilities for numerous companies tied to the alleged criminals have been frozen. Regarding Michael Judd, his estate was appraised at £310,000, which is just under the limit for inheritance duty. This figure also drew the attention of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which has since halted the intended sale of Mr. Judd's Pinner bungalow. At the same time, the conflict around Christine Harverson's estate is at a standstill, with the probate procedure on hold. Tamas Szvercsok is blocked from acquiring her Wimbledon property, but Lisa and Nicole cannot afford the high costs of a civil lawsuit to show his testament is fraudulent.

A System in Crisis

The Ministry of Justice indicated it was collaborating with authorities to guarantee criminals would face the law's full consequences. Yet, a different narrative is shared by those with extensive familiarity with the probate framework. Sir Bob Neill, who formerly led the House of Commons Justice Select Committee, asserts the framework is in a state of disarray. He claims that a fervent drive to lower expenses by making the probate framework digital has led to vulnerabilities that criminals are now viciously exploiting. A 2023 review of the probate framework, started by the committee, was unfortunately halted by the general election, leaving critical issues unresolved.

The Perils of Digitisation

Sir Bob Neill insists that the absence of human checks is a key factor in the ongoing emergency. He explained that regional offices previously provided a level of human engagement, communication, and review that was more effective at catching cases with problems. He stated that a system that is entirely automated does not perform this function well. He called the framework established in 2017 an inadequate, quick solution that does not have the advanced deception-spotting software that other fields, like the insurance sector, employ. The emphasis on efficiency and budget reduction has been at the cost of safety, making the framework exposed.

The Loss of Human Judgment

These worries are shared by Matt Boardman from Anglia Research. He mentioned that with the old framework, will executors had to visit their area probate office to give a sworn statement in person. This, he clarified, enabled the registrar to consider each case individually. The face-to-face meeting gave a vital chance for a skilled administrator to observe an executor's conduct and investigate any discrepancies. He claims the shift to a completely digital framework has totally removed this crucial protection. The effects of this alteration are now becoming alarmingly obvious.

Mr. Boardman expressed his concern about the number of fraudulent cases that may have already been cleared by the probate authority and how much wealth is being transferred to these criminals. The complete scope of the deception might not be uncovered for many years, but the harm to mourning relatives and the credibility of the legal framework is already significant.