SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A Sacramento woman is accused of bilking several people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for her gambling habit.
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department
Maria Elna Flora
Maria Elna Flora, 59, was arrested Thursday by Yolo County officials and is being held in Sacramento County Jail on a $400,000 bail. She is facing 92 criminal charges, including grand theft, embezzlement and burglary.
"Maria Elna Flora fleeced retirees out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by getting them to shift their life savings into sham real estate investments," California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a statement. "Flora stole thousands from retirees and gambled it away playing the slots at the local casino."
According to the attorney general's office, Flora would offer investment opportunities to retirees and promise solid returns that would be used to make real estate loans to investors willing to pay high interest rates. However, none of those funds were invested.
Flora worked as a licensed life insurance agent.
She convinced at least 10 people living in Butte, El Dorado, Sacramento, Solano, Stanislaus and Yolo counties to invest between $5,000 and $88,000, the attorney general's office said.
http://www.kcra.com/news/19806151/detail.html#
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department
Maria Elna Flora
Maria Elna Flora, 59, was arrested Thursday by Yolo County officials and is being held in Sacramento County Jail on a $400,000 bail. She is facing 92 criminal charges, including grand theft, embezzlement and burglary.
"Maria Elna Flora fleeced retirees out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by getting them to shift their life savings into sham real estate investments," California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a statement. "Flora stole thousands from retirees and gambled it away playing the slots at the local casino."
According to the attorney general's office, Flora would offer investment opportunities to retirees and promise solid returns that would be used to make real estate loans to investors willing to pay high interest rates. However, none of those funds were invested.
Flora worked as a licensed life insurance agent.
She convinced at least 10 people living in Butte, El Dorado, Sacramento, Solano, Stanislaus and Yolo counties to invest between $5,000 and $88,000, the attorney general's office said.
http://www.kcra.com/news/19806151/detail.html#