Washington State Guardian Accused of Stealing From Elderly Clients

A 61-year-old Sedro-Woolley woman pleaded not guilty to charges accusing her of stealing money from at least two of her legal guardianship clients.

Sharon Nielson is accused of more than $370,000 of suspicious financial activity in her handling of two clients’ bank accounts between 2009 and 2011, according to police reports. She is charged with four counts of first-degree theft and one count of money laundering.

Nielson was the legal guardian of an 88-year-old Anacortes woman and a 77-year-old Sedro-Woolley man, both of whom lived in nursing homes, court documents say.

An audit of the woman’s finances after Nielson was removed as her guardian revealed more than $92,000 of unauthorized expenses from the woman’s estate, including payments to casinos and writing checks for cash to herself and her business.

She is also accused of writing checks for thousands of dollars to herself from the Sedro-Woolley man’s account.

Nielson appears to have used multiple accounts to conduct payments on behalf of her clients, making it hard to determine which transactions were on behalf of her clients, payments for her services and for her personal use, the affidavit said.

Full Article and Source:
Guardian Accused of Stealing From Elderly Clients

See Also:
In the Matter of Sharon Nielson, CPG: #10082
In the Court of Appeals in the State of Washington