SANTA ANA – A former accountant and trustee was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing more than $500,000 in trust fund money and using it to buy a doll collection, county prosecutors said today.
Margot Jean Strawn, 58, of Laguna Hills, was ordered to pay the money back in restitution to the victims, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office.
Strawn, a certified public accountant, was hired by the Pellissier family to manage the trust funds of siblings Michelle and Edmund Pellissier, prosecutors said. She stole more than $500,000 between May 31, 2001, and Jan. 19, 2007 by writing herself checks from the accounts and depositing them into her personal bank account, prosecutors said.
She failed to file tax returns for Michelle Pellissier's trust fund, and continued performing accounting work even though her license expired, prosecutors said.
In March 2007, the fraud came to the attention of the Internal Revenue Service, which notified Michelle Pellissier, prosecutors said. She and her brother checked their accounts and discovered most of their money had been stolen.
On Monday, Strawn pleaded guilty to two felony counts of grand theft with sentencing enhancements for aggravated white collar crime over $500,000 and property damage over $150,000 and $50,000, prosecutors said.
Farrah Emami, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, said investigators discovered Strawn spent the money buying dolls online.
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