An elderly woman who says she was manipulated into signing away control of her finances is now facing a legal battle over the roof above her head, despite raising the alarm with police almost a year ago.
Carole Curtis, 83, says she is drowning in debt and fears losing her Gold Coast home after a lender commenced legal action over a mortgage she claims she never knowingly agreed to.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Pensioner faces losing home as fraud probe drags on
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“He destroyed my liberty, he’s ruined my life,” Curtis told 7NEWS.
Her former business associate Christopher Bruce Smith, a twice-convicted fraudster, was also someone she trusted deeply and appointed as her power of attorney.
Last year, 7NEWS revealed Smith had allegedly installed Curtis as director of more than 70 companies and convinced her to take out a larger mortgage against her apartment.
“It came back I had a second mortgage on my property. I nearly died,” Curtis said.
The alleged fraud is also linked to an investment scheme that allegedly left dozens of investors owed millions of dollars.
Despite Curtis reporting the matter to police 10 months ago, she says little progress has been made.
“It’s been terribly slow,” she said. “I don’t think they’ve done anything.”
Queensland Police’s Financial and Cyber Crime Group has confirmed investigators have not yet examined the alleged investment scam, saying resources have been tied up with other matters.
In a statement, police said they understood the frustration surrounding the investigation, but complex fraud matters could take considerable time.
Meanwhile, legal proceedings over Curtis’s home are due to begin next week.
The $765,000 loan at the centre of the dispute was allegedly signed electronically and approved despite Curtis surviving on a pension and having no other obvious source of income.
Private Mortgage Holdings, the lender pursuing the debt, says it has now paused enforcement action and pledged full cooperation.
The company said Curtis, “as a victim of fraud”, would not be evicted from her home.
Director Matthew Bransgrove, who has written extensively about mortgage fraud, said he was baffled by how the alleged conduct appeared to bypass safeguards designed to prevent this type of lending abuse.
Federal Member for Moncrieff Angie Bell said Curtis deserved support while the matter remained unresolved.
“This is clearly very distressing for Carole looking down the barrel of losing her home and there needs to be some sort of support for her in the meantime,” Bell said.
Curtis says she is now focused on trying to clear her name.
“I’m just a victim of the system,” she said.
