A man in Fresno, Calif., was sentenced to 188 months in prison for defrauding a vulnerable physician of more than $2.7 million before his death.
Anthony David Flores was also ordered to pay $1 million in restitution, according to a June 17 news release from the Justice Department.
Beginning June 2017, Mr. Flores used false promises to befriend a physician and investor worth more than $60 million who suffered from a mental illness and lost the ability to care for himself following hospitalizations. Within days of meeting the physician, Mr. Flores and his former girlfriend, Anna Rene Moore, moved into his home rent free and "slowly took control of his life by pretending to be his new 'best friends' and caregivers, according to the release.
Following the physician suffering a mental breakdown resulting in his arrest in September 2017, Ms. Flores fraudulently induced him into granting control over the victim's finances. He told the physician he would only access the finances to post bail for release and that he would rescind the powers, but the powers of attorney were never rescinded. Within days, according to the release, Mr. Flores opened bank accounts and gave himself access to the physician's wealth.
From September 2017 to May 2018, Mr. Flores and Ms. Moore lived with the physician and diverted his funds to their own bank account, among other allegations. In May 2018, the physician died, and the pair moved back into the home and withdrew large sums of money from his accounts.
Additionally, according to the release, they also concealed information about the victim’s finances from his mother and sister.