RI Lawyer/Guardian Arrested for Embezzlement, Unlawful Appropriation from Elderly Client

Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent, of the Rhode Island State Police and Commissioner of Public Safety, announces that on Wednesday, March 6, 2013, members of the Financial Crimes Unit arrested attorney Janet A. Mastronardi, age 52, of Warwick, Rhode Island for Embezzlement and Unlawful Appropriation. The investigation, conducted by the Financial Crimes Unit, was the result of a complaint filed by a David Curtain, Chief Disciplinary Counsel for the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Janet A. Mastronardi was taken into custody at her law office in Warwick.

In February 2012, the Financial Crimes Unit was notified that Janet Mastronardi had allegedly embezzled over $100,000 from an elderly client. Janet Mastronardi had been appointed guardian of the client in September 2005, as a result of the client’s deteriorating health and mental condition. In January 2010, Janet Mastronardi closed two of her client’s investment accounts and deposited the proceeds of $224,058.57 into two newly opened bank accounts. This money was never listed on her client’s probate account. A review of Janet Mastronardi’s bank accounts revealed that she stole $144,989.21 of her client’s money by writing a series of 25 checks payable to herself over the next eleven months.

Janet A. Mastronardi was arrested at her law office, processed at the Lincoln Woods Barracks and arraigned at Third Division District Court on the above charges. She was released on $10,000 personal recognizance. If convicted, Janet Mastronardi faces up to a maximum of twenty years in prison and a $50,000 fine for the embezzlement charge and up to a maximum of twenty years and a $434,967.63 fine for the unlawful appropriation charge.

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State Police Arrests Lawyer for Embezzlement and Unlawful Appropriation from Elderly Client

Disbarred Attorney Will Serve One Year in Prison for Stealing Nearly $900,000

A disbarred Bedford attorney who stole nearly $900,000 from several people, including an 85-year-old client, will pay restitution to her victims, serve one year in a house of correction, and an additional year-and-a-half under house arrest, prosecutors said today.

Maureen F. Pomeroy, 46, was sentenced in Middlesex Superior Court Monday, after she pleaded guilty March 4 to two counts of larceny from a person over 60, one count of larceny, and one count of embezzlement by fiduciary, Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a statement. Pomeroy was accused of stealing from two clients and one of their sons.

“This defendant took advantage of clients who entrusted her with access to their funds and believed that she would assist them with their best interests in mind. … This defendant is being held accountable for these injustices and is no longer able to practice law,” Coakley said.

Pomeroy will be required to pay $277,292 in restitution to her victims, the statement said.

Coakley’s office said that during the summer of 2008, Pomeroy stole more than $810,000 from an 85-year-old man who had hired her to draft his will, estate planning documents, and assist him with several bank accounts.

Pomeroy embezzled some of that money for personal gain and used the rest to repay two other people whom she had previously misappropriated money from, the statement said.

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Disbarred attorney will serve one year in prison for stealing nearly $900,000

Yet Another California Fiduciary Arrested For Elder Financial Abuse

Rod Hormell, a California Certified Senior Estate Planner, Elder Care specialist, located in Thousand Oaks, California, was recently arrested on suspicion of embezzling and laundering money from an 89-year-old client.

In October 2012 the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office received a report alleging that Rod Hormell, 56, had embezzled and laundered money from an 89-year-old client.

The report came from a relative of the client.

Hormell was arrested Feb. 19 at his business in the 900 block of BroadBeck Drive in Newbury Park. Hormell is accused of financial elder abuse and money laundering.

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Yet Another California Fiduciary Arrested For Elder Financial Abuse

Financial planner accused of elder abuse

A Newbury Park financial planner was arrested last week on suspicion of embezzling money from an elderly client.

In October 2012 the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office received a report alleging that Rod Hormell, 56, had embezzled money from an 89-year-old client.
The report came from a relative of the client.

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Financial planner accused of elder abuse

MI: Redford Woman Charged With Embezzling Money From Elderly Father in Nursing Home

A Redford Township woman is charged with embezzling money from her elderly father while he was in a nursing home.

Renee Bullock was charged with one felony count of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult.

 

Mich. Attorney General Bill Schuette announced the charges on Wednesday.

Schuette say Bullock used more than $140,000 of her father’s money for her own personal use.

Bullock was granted power of attorney and appointed guardianship of her father after he was admitted to nursing facility in Westland.

 

From the time her father was admitted to the facility in Dec. 2010, until March 2012, Schuette says Bullock failed to make payments to the nursing home.

Instead Schuette says Bullock leased a Cadillac CTS and a Chevrolet Tahoe and made payments to them using the funds.

An investigation also found the money was used at casinos, nail and tanning salons, numerous restaurants and retail establishments.

In addition, Schuette says cash advance loans were repaid with the money.

“Financial exploitation of Michigan’s most vulnerable, our seniors, is one of the fastest growing crimes,” said Schuette. “Nursing home residents are the most vulnerable and the least likely to detect or report exploitation. We are cracking down on criminals who target Michigan’s nursing home residents.”

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Redford Township Woman Charged With Embezzling Money From Elderly Father in Nursing Home

NH: Public Guardian Worker Charged With Embezzling

A woman responsible for managing funds for wards of the state has been indicted for allegedly embezzling $52,000 in public funds, federal prosecutors said.

Heidi Lacerte was indicted on a single count of embezzlement for allegedly taking money from the Office of Public Guardian between February and October 2010, according to prosecutors.

The stolen money was Social Security and Department of Veterans Affairs benefits meant to cover “current medical and fiscal needs” of beneficiaries who were under the public guardian’s care, according to the indictment.

The Office of Public Guardian is a nonprofit group established in 1979 to provide advocacy and guardianship for people whose family is unable to serve as a guardian. Part of Lacerte’s job as an estate manager required her to manage the finances of individuals who received services from the Office of Public Guardian, prosecutors said. The indictment was filed in U.S. District Court alongside a plea agreement struck with federal prosecutors.

Federal prosecutors said that the funds were kept in an account held by the OPG, so it could be tapped as needed. But around Feb. 23, 2010, Lacerte began pilfering money from the fund by “having checks written to herself drawn against beneficiaries’ funds,” according to an indictment. Prosecutors say she also purchased gift cards and took cash intended for beneficiary accounts for her own use.

Court documents do not say how Lacerte’s alleged theft was discovered. Terms of the plea deal do not reveal what prosecutors may recommend for a sentence, but Lacerte faces up to 10 years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

The indictment and plea agreement was made public Nov. 8 in U.S. District Court. Lacerte is expected to enter her guilty plea on Nov. 30 before U.S. Judge Steven McAuliffe in federal court.

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Public Guardian Worker Charged With Embezzling