A 74-year-old Man is Facing 20 Years in Prison for Stealing $6 Million From Clients in Orange County
Federal officials said Monday that a 74-year-old man from Orange County pleaded guilty to stealing almost $6 million over six years and faces 20 years in jail.
A news statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said that David Robert McDonnell, who lived in Laguna Beach, owned and ran McDonnell Business Services, a business that handled the estates of wealthy people.
Police say that the 74-year-old took advantage of his wealthy clients between 2018 and January 2024, when he was in charge of their funds.
The news release said that McDonnell’s job as an executor was to oversee the trusts’ assets and, after the people died, sell the assets and give the money from the sales to the trusts’ beneficiaries. “Instead of doing this, McDonnell sold off the assets and took the money to his bank accounts.”
In August 2020, McDonnell got a $300,000 check from a victim’s trust in Capistrano Beach. The federal officials say that Bank of America handled the money through a computer server in Texas.
It was reported that McDonnel pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and admitted in his plea deal that he stole about $5.9 million from four trusts.
On December 9, the 74-year-old man will have his sentencing hearing. At that time, he could get up to 20 years in federal jail.