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LOS ANGELES – A Santa Barbara County investment advisor was sentenced today to 121 months in federal prison for stealing approximately $2.25 million from elderly clients of her investment advisory business, including clients that were receiving end-of-life care.
Julie Anne Darrah, 52, of Santa Maria, was sentenced by United States District Judge Otis D. Wright II, who will schedule a restitution hearing at a later date.
Darrah pleaded guilty on March 4 to one count of wire fraud.
During the scheme,Darrah stole approximately $2.25 million from her firm’s clients. She did so by obtaining control of her victims’ assets, and then – without the victims’ knowledge or consent – she liquidated their security holdings and transferred the proceeds to accounts she controlled. As part of this, she convinced victims to sign documents making her the trustee of their trusts or a signatory on their bank accounts or giving her power of attorney over their brokerage accounts and allowing her – as their investment advisor – to transfer funds from their accounts to other bank accounts, including to her own accounts.
Darrah took advantage of trust victims placed in her – often convincing them she would take care of them in their older years like a daughter, and she used this trust to convince them to sign the documents that she then used to steal money from them. In this way, Darrah stole money from victims from approximately November 2016 to July 2023. Sheused stolen funds to buy properties for herself, pay other personal expenses, buy luxury vehicles, and operate other business ventures. Some victims were left in desperate circumstances, without the money to pay for end-of-life care, when the fraud was discovered.
Darrah also convinced a company identified in the plea agreement as “Business Victim 1,” a Minnesota-based investment advisor firm, to acquire VFM based on false and misleading statements and the concealment of material facts, including not telling that firm about her theft of individual client funds. After the fraud was discovered, Business Victim 1 incurred approximately $5.4 million in losses.
In October 2023, the SEC filed a civil complaint against Darrah in connection with this scheme. In December 2024, United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer found Darrah liable to pay $2,416,511, including interest.
The FBI and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Kerry L. Quinn of the Major Frauds Section prosecuted this case.
If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This Department of Justice hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. English, Spanish and other languages are available.
