A Placer County woman was convicted of four felonies after stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her elderly mother, California Department of Justice officials said Wednesday.
After a four-week trial in Auburn, Betty Ann Engelbrecht was found guilty by a Placer Superior Court jury of two counts of grand theft from an elder and an additional two counts of grand theft, Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said in a news release.
Engelbrecht was prosecuted after an investigation found she had transferred funds from her mother’s bank account to her own between 2013 and 2017, when she was granted power of attorney, and spent the money for her own benefit. At the time, her mother was suffering from a neurodegenerative disease, and Engelbrecht’s actions deprived her mother of funds for her continued care, authorities said.
“Financial exploitation and fraud is the most prevalent — but one of the least reported — forms of elder abuse,” the Department of Justice said in the release.
The Department of Justice handled the investigation and prosecution of the case.
“All too often, our elder citizens are made victims of abuse and fraud by those they should be able to trust the most — their own family,” Bonta said in a statement. “Not only is this a cruel betrayal of trust, it can wreak havoc on the health, mental health, and financial safety of our seniors. Today’s conviction should send a strong message: The California Department of Justice will not tolerate abuse or crimes targeting our state’s elders.”
Engelbrecht has not yet been sentenced, and a sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.