| For Immediate Release Case # 12HF2170 August 2, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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FORMER MARRIED COUPLE TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR STEALING $350,000 FROM HUSBAND’S 91-YEAR-OLD MOTHER
SANTA ANA – A former married couple is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow for stealing $350,000 from the husband’s 91-year-old mother. Peter Garcia, 70, and Virginia Kay Furr-Garcia, 50, both of San Clemente, are each charged with one felony count each of grand theft, conspiracy to defraud another of property, conspiracy to commit forgery, and theft from an elder with sentencing enhancements for property loss over $200,000 and aggravated white collar crime over $100,000. If convicted, the defendants both face a maximum sentence of six years in state prison. They are being held on $500,000 bail and are scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow, Aug. 3, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. in Department CJ-1, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
At the time of the crime, Garcia and Furr-Garcia were married, but have since divorced.
Between Jan. 1, 2009 and Sept. 27, 2010, Garcia and Furr-Garcia are accused of conspiring to close four annuity funds belonging to Garcia’s mother worth approximately $350,000, without the victim’s knowledge or consent. The defendants are accused of closing the accounts and transferring the money into an account held jointly by Garcia and the victim.
Garcia is accused of then moving the money from the joint account with his mother into an account held by the defendants. The defendants are accused of using the victim’s stolen money for personal living expenses including groceries, gas, and utility bills.
The victim discovered the theft when she could not afford to pay her bills at her senior living home for several months. The victim reported the theft on March 10, 2011, to Orange County Sheriff’s Department who investigated this case and arrested the defendants yesterday, Aug. 1, 2012.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Doug Brannan of the Major Fraud Unit is prosecuting this case.
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