Delco Court Appointed-Guardian Stole $1M From Elderly Wards: Feds

ALDAN, PA — A Delaware County woman and two others from Virginia who were accused of stealing more than $1 million from elderly people they were assigned to care for are now facing federal charges.

Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said Gloria Byars, 60, of Aldan has been indicted for her role in a scheme to defraud elderly, incapacitated people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Additionally, Carlton Rembert, 66, and Alesha Mitchell, 40, both of Virigina, have been charged in the case.

All three are charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of bank fraud.

Additionally, Rembert and Byars were charged with five counts of wire fraud, and Byars faces an additional charge of money laundering.

Byars and two others from Ridley Park were charged by the Delaware County District Attorney's office back in October 2019 with multiple counts of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, and more after they were accused of stealing more than $1 million from 108 elderly victims in six Philadelphia-area counties during their roles as court appointed guardians for incapacitated people

Byars' case in Delaware County is still underway, court records show.

Authorities said between 2012 and 2018, Byars stole from dozens of incapacitated people while serving as their court-appointed guardian.

Beofre operating her own guardianship company, Byars was an office manager for a different company that was appointed to care for wards in Pennsylvania.

As office manager and then as guardian herself through her own firm, Byars had unfettered access to her wards' property including bank accounts, pensions, real estate, annuities, and other assets.

Byars is accused of stealing money from the wards' bank accounts by writing unauthorized checks to companies she controlled, or to shell companies controlled by Rembert and Mitchell.

The Indictment further alleges that Rembert and Mitchell help Byars by opening bank accounts in the names of shell companies purporting to be medical billing companies and depositing the stolen checks they received from Byars into those accounts. After the stolen checks cleared, Byars, Rembert, and Mitchell are alleged to have shared the fraud proceeds, authorities said.

Byars is alleged to have also stolen gold Krugerrand coins, which are valuable gold coins first minted in South Africa in the 1960s to introduce the country's gold supply onto the world market, from one elderly victim’s safe deposit box.

She is also alleged to have stolen $131,000 from the same ward's bank account and more than $756,000 from a retired federal employee's Thrift Savings Plan.

Finally, according to court documents, Byars managed assets for an individual identified as C.G., whose heir asked for the assets' return from Byers after C.G.’s death.

However, Byars had already stolen C.G.’s money and in an attempt to conceal her theft from Byars allegedly stolen $122,000 from another ward and used it to repay the heir.

Byars was previously arrested in both Philadelphia and Delaware County for theft from her wards.

Byars and Rembert are scheduled to appear for the federal charges in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, July 6.

If convicted, the three face the following maximum possible sentences. For each count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud, the maximum sentence is 30 years’ imprisonment and a $1,000,000 fine.

For each count of wire fraud, the maximum sentence is 20 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine and for money laundering the maximum sentence is 20 years’ imprisonment and a $500,000 fine.