Carlton Rembert, Elderly Incapacitated Victims’ Theft, Pennsylvania 2024

A Virginia man has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud elderly incapacitated people of over $1 million.

Carlton Rembert, 70, of Hampton, Virginia, was sentenced on October 11, 2024, by United States District Judge Joel H. Slomsky to 66 months’ imprisonment, five years of supervised release, $534,335 in restitution to the victims, and a $400 special assessment.

Rembert and his co-conspirators stole the life savings from dozens of wards while a court-appointed guardian, Gloria Byars, served as their guardian between 2012 and 2018. Byars pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, and tax fraud for her role in the fraud scheme.

As guardian, Byars had unfettered access to wards’ property, including bank accounts, pensions, real estate, retirement accounts, and other assets. Byars stole money from the wards’ bank accounts by writing unauthorized checks to companies she controlled or to shell companies controlled by her co-conspirators.

Rembert and his co-conspirators assisted Byars in the theft by opening bank accounts in their home state of Virginia in the names of shell companies purporting to be medical services companies. Byars made the checks payable to her co-conspirators’ fake medical services companies to make it appear that the elderly incapacitated ward incurred a legitimate medical expense.

Rembert deposited over $695,000 in stolen ward checks into five separate shell business bank accounts he had opened. He then withdrew over $388,000 in cash through 94 structured withdrawals. Rembert also obtained $217,082 in certified checks, sending the certified checks to Byars and keeping a share of the stolen ward money for himself.

Alesha Mitchell is scheduled to be sentenced on October 24. The stolen money was spent on personal expenses, including vacations, clothing, and other retail purchases, restaurants, vehicles, gifts, and parties.

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