An accountant at Atlanta-based Homrich Berg, a full-service investment advisor and family office provider, today pleaded guilty to stealing $800,000 from an elderly widow who needed help with paying bills, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Heidi Royal, 52, of Dallas, Ga., pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, the office said. Her sentencing is scheduled for May 31.
From June 2010 to March 2021, Royal allegedly siphoned $800,000 out of the account of an elderly widow, referred to the release as "C.K.," who suffered from dementia and had hired the firm to provide professional accounting and bill-paying services, according to the release. As the firm’s accounting manager and bill-pay supervisor, Royal had access to the client’s Social Security number and the usernames and passwords for all investment and bank accounts, the statement said.
When the illegal activity was discovered, Homrich Berg terminated Royal immediately and called law enforcement, the statement said. A voicemail left with Chris Casdia, Homrich Berg’s chief compliance officer, was not returned by press time.
“As part of the scheme, Royal stole C.K.’s annuity payments, wrote more than 200 fraudulent checks on C.K.’s bank accounts, forged C.K.’s endorsement on checks, withdrew cash from C.K.’s bank accounts and converted it to her own use, fraudulently used the electronic bill-pay feature associated with C.K.’s bank accounts to divert money to herself, used PayPal to make electronic payments to herself from C.K.’s bank accounts, impersonated C.K. in telephone conversations with financial institutions; and made false and misleading entries in C.K.’s financial records to make the fraud harder to detect,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
In addition, Royal allegedly used the client’s name and Social Security number to open a private bank account that Royal used to conceal the fraudulent proceeds.
“Royal gained C.K.’s trust and developed a close personal friendship with her,” the statement said. “Royal even told a co-worker at the firm that C.K. was like a grandmother to her."
After Financial Advisor contacted Homrich Berg, a firm spokesperson responded by email:
"Homrich Berg became aware of suspicious transactions involving a former back office employee involving one client," the spokesperson said. "Given the seriousness of the accusations, HB quickly terminated the employee and has been actively working with the client and law enforcement to ensure that the case is handled swiftly and appropriately. The result of this cooperation was a guilty plea entered by the former employee. Our findings and the findings of an outside forensic accountant confirmed our belief that this misconduct was limited to one employee and one client. We reimbursed the client for lost funds and believe this was a unique situation that will not occur again."