A California lady who stole more than $2.2 million from elderly victims received a prison sentence.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 52-year-old financial adviser Julie Anne Darrah targeted her firm’s senior clients, some of whom were getting end-of-life care, using her position.
By taking over her client’s assets, Darrah was able to steal the money. Without her clients’ knowledge, she liquidated their security holdings and moved the proceeds to accounts under her control.
In order to obtain control over their accounts, she persuaded the victims to sign agreements that made her the trustee of their trusts, a signatory on their bank accounts, or a power of attorney over their broking accounts.
According to court filings, Darrah was able to freely move their money to other bank accounts, including those that she owned, in her capacity as their financial advisor.
According to the prosecution, Darrah exploited the confidence her victims had placed in her by frequently persuading them that she would look after them like a daughter as they aged.
“She used this trust to convince them to sign the documents that she then used to steal money from them,” court documents said.
Through this method, Darrah stole almost $2.25 million between November 2016 and July 2023. She paid for personal costs, operated other business endeavours, and bought houses and expensive cars with the money.
When the scam was uncovered, prosecutors claimed that some of her victims were left in dire situations and without the funds to pay for end-of-life care.
“She had also convinced a company identified in the plea agreement as ‘Business Victim 1,’ a Minnesota-based investment advisor firm, to acquire VFM based on false and misleading statements and the concealment of material facts, including not telling that firm about her theft of individual client funds,” court documents said. “After the fraud was discovered, Business Victim 1 incurred approximately $5.4 million in losses.”
Regarding the plan, the SEC brought a legal action against Darrah in October 2023. Darrah was ordered to pay $2,416,511, plus interest, in December 2024.
She entered a guilty plea to one count of wire fraud on March 4. She was found guilty of her charges and given a sentence of 121 months in federal prison on May 19.
The National Elder Fraud Hotline can be reached at 1-833-372-8311 by anybody 60 years of age and older who may have been a victim of financial fraud or knows someone who has.
“Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
