Financial advisor to French Resistance heroine cleared of fraud and forging her will

A financial advisor to a heroine of the French Resistance has been cleared of abusing his position after a judge ruled he had always been trying to protect her. 

Barry Jefferd, 57, was accused of abusing his position to commit fraud and forgery after helping Armande Cohen, 96, change her will because the original left everything to her brother who had since died. 

Miss Cohen, who had won the Croix de Guerre for her bravery in resisting the Nazis during the Second World War, was suffering from dementia and did not have the capacity to manage her own finances, it was alleged. 

But Mr Jefferd was cleared after the judge noted that not only was Miss Cohen capable but the changes did not make him a beneficiary in any way and it was "counter-intuitive" to suggest he was not working in his client's best interests when making changes in 2011 and again in 2012. 

The accountant stood trial alongside Miss Cohen's doctor Olivier Reymond, 53, who she had bequeathed her flat to. 

Dr Reymond was accused of abusing his position to "procure payments" of £109,000 between 2011 and 2016 for treatment knowing Miss Cohen could not manage her financial affairs. 

The prosecution had alleged that she had been suffering from dementia  and incapable of making her own financial decisions since 2011, when she had been admitted to hospital following a fall. 

Both men denied the allegations and the judge halted the trial half way through and ordered not guilty verdicts after ruling that neither had a case to answer. 

Judge Bartle QC said that all of those involved in her care said that she had improved after returning home from hospital in 2011 and she was capable of managing her own finances.

He concluded that Mr Jefferd was "careful to check" that Miss Cohen's instructions were being followed when the will was drawn and when she amended it again in 2012, adding: "There is no credible explanation why Mr Jefferd should have made those amendments unless they represented Miss Cohen's instructions". 

In ruling that there was no case to answer the judge agreed with the defence team that "it is simply counter-intuitive to suggest that in doing so Mr Jefferd was dishonestly abusing his position and failing to safeguard her interests".

A second will in 2012 shows he was "safeguarding Miss Cohen's interests not the reverse". 

He concluded that Dr Reymond believed Miss Cohen had "fluctuating capacity" and there was no evidence that he was trying to gain access to her finances