Son accused of trying to sell elderly father’s property

(CNS): A George Town man appeared in Grand Court on Wednesday, accused of trying to sell his elderly father’s land and property without permission. Admiral ‘Andy’ Anderson Jr is facing 13 forgery charges relating to his alleged attempts to dispose of the family’s assets and pocket the money. As crown counsel Toyin Salako presented the case against Anderson, she told the jury that his father, Admiral Lear Anderson Sr, who is now 86, was in the United States at the time, where his wife was suffering from Alzheimer’s and he was having back surgery, completely unaware what his son was up to.

Meanwhile, Anderson Jr was forging various documents and claiming to have power of attorney for his parents in an effort to sell off their property for his own gain.

The prosecutor explained that Anderson Sr moved to Florida in early 2012, where he and his wife had lived on and off over the years. The final move for the couple was largely because of their health issues, and he left his son in charge of the family home and other apartments in the central area of George Town that they rented out. Anderson Jr was supposed to manage the family’s various properties, collect the rents and transfer part of those funds to his parents on a regular basis.

When Anderson Sr appeared in the witness box he told the court that from 2012, when he and his now late wife left for the US, until today, the only money his son had ever given him was one cheque for around $900, and while he was supposed to send the rent money on a regular basis, he never did.

It was some time after Anderson’s wife, Koreen Elesia, had died in 2014 that Anderson Sr learned that his properties in the Cayman had been put up for sale without either his consent or knowledge, and as a result he returned to the islands. On learning that it was his son who was trying to sell the properties, Anderson reported the fraud to the police.

Anderson Jr was arrested and interviewed, but he denied forging anything and said that both his parents were unwell at the time and they had given him power of attorney. He claimed that not only was his mother suffering from Alzheimer’s but his father was too, and his parents had therefore given him control over their affairs.

Anderson Jr claimed that other family members in the United States had been mishandling their affairs and that was why he had not sent the rent money to the US and was instead holding it for them in Cayman.

But the crown said that Anderson Sr was not suffering from dementia at all and was quite clear in his account that neither he nor his wife had ever given Anderson Jr power of attorney or permission to sell any of their properties. Travel documents also show Anderson’s wife had never returned to Cayman after going into a nursing home in the US and that Anderson Sr was not on the island to sign the necessary documents during the times that his son claimed he had handed over control to him.

When Anderson began giving evidence, the octogenarian clearly stated that he had not given his son power of attorney or permission to sell any of the apartments and properties, which he had been renting out for many years.

The elderly man, who spoke clearly and directly, admitted that he had given a limited power of attorney to his step-son, his wife’s child from her first marriage, Royal Rose, who was also living in the US. But he said this was to help them with medical decisions because at one point when he was recovering from surgery and his wife’s Alzheimer’s was advancing, they had both stayed at the same nursing home.

However, he was clear that he had never given the younger Admiral Anderson, or any of his children, power over his properties and had never discussed, or given permission, for their sale.

The case continues.