List of unclaimed estates taken offline after BBC investigation

After a BBC investigation found evidence that a criminal gang was used to make a fraud that was worth millions of pounds, a official list of people who died without leaving a testament was taken offline.

The government list, known as Bona Vacantia, gives details of derelict properties in England or Wales. The BBC heard the claims that criminals use information to create a false testament, to take over money and property.

The removal of the page was welcomed by lawyers, but they say that the system should be done more to protect the fraud.

In a statement, the Ministry of Justice said that he was working with the relevant institutions to support the ongoing investigations about the allegedly fraudulent activity ”.

The details of approximately 6,000 unattended property are listed in Bona Vacanta (Latin for “Empty Goods”), and until July 7, everyone can see them on the gov.uk website.

However, the relevant page has been updated and now says: “We have temporarily removed the list of unqualified properties from our website. More information will be followed as soon as possible.”

The Ministry of Justice could now confirm that the list was abolished to the BBC in accordance with the current investigations and when the list would be online again ”.

A BBC News article published on Saturday, July 5 In the south of England, he talked about a few cases where the details of a dead person had emerged in Bona Vacanta, and soon after, someone claimed that he was his only heir.

These “heirs” produced testimonies that were thought to have never been present before. Moreover, the plaintiffs seemed to be connected to each other through a company directorate network, and they all had names of Hungarian origin.

The deceased family, friends and neighbors, officials said how they tried to warn their doubts, but they say that no action has been done.

As a result of our investigation, dozens of companies of the company affiliated with suspicious scammers have been suspended.

According to Ann Stander, a leading expert lawyer in the field, it is “absolutely true” to destroy the bona gap, but it will not be enough to fight fraud in itself.

ProBate (the legal process of the managing the property of a dead person) has been carried out online since 2017, but the current system demands very little control over applicants and “openly open to abuse”.

Ms. Stander’s wrong aspects are shared with the lawyer and former deputy Sir Bob Neill: “If you have an automatic system, it needs to be checked in it and it doesn’t have it right now,” he says.

Although Sir Bob was shortened by the 2019 general elections, the House of Commons launched an investigation into the investigation system when he was the president of the Justice Election Committee. Bona says that it is a good start to destroy the void [to combat fraud]But they have much more to do “.

The abolition of Bona Vacantia will also have an effect on legitimate varicose hunting companies that use the list as a starting point for research and then communicate with real heirs for unattended properties.

“This bureaucratic knee reaction is unnecessary,” says Peter Turvey, who runs Anglia Research Services such a company.

He says the problem is not with the details that arise in Bona Bacantia, but more than the government’s inability to take action when a clear fraud examples are presented.