Houston woman sent to prison for bilking elderly of $3 million

A Houston woman has been sentenced to 2o years in prison after she pleaded guilty to bilking a dozen elderly clients for a total of more than $3 million dollars.

Celia Castillo, 59, was convicted after the Texas Department of Insurance discovered she operated an annuity scam, according to department officials.

Officials said they opened an investigation into Castillo after receiving complaints about the legitimacy of the investment products she was selling. Case records show people believed they were purchasing annuities from Castillo, but she was diverting their investments into a bank account she had created for herself and no annuities were purchased.

Castillo's clients were all older than 70 and two were older than 90. None one of them had family members living near them.

"She would really become part of their lives, carefully building relationships with each of these folks," said Geneva Titus, a department investigator. "She would visit with them, give them rides, have dinner with them, all with the goal of gaining their trust and eventually stealing their life savings."

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Houston woman sent to prison for bilking elderly of $3 million