By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief
A Fresno-based hairstylist pleaded guilty on October 19 to nine felonies for defrauding a Pacific Palisades ophthalmologist out of more than $2.7 million before he died and then attempting to defraud his estate out of an additional $20 million-plus, according to a statement from The United States Department of Justice.
“Anthony David Flores, 47, aka ‘Anton David,’ pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, two counts of money laundering and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity,” according to the statement, which was sent on behalf of United States District Court for the Central District of California. “His co-defendant and former girlfriend, Anna Rene Moore, 40, an actress and former yoga studio owner who resided in Monterrey, Mexico, at the time of her January 31 arrest at a Houston airport, pleaded guilty on August 28 to seven felonies in this case: one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, two counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, two counts of money laundering and one count of engaging in monetary transaction in property derived from specified unlawful activity.”
Flores and Moore were charged on February 1, according to the Department of Justice, and both previously pleaded not guilty to the charges. Both have been in federal custody since January.
Dr. Mark Sawusch, who lived in Malibu, retired without warning in 2017 while working from an office on Via De La Paz—leaving former patients without access to their medical records. The ophthalmologist had a career of more than 30 years, following a medical degree from University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, a residency at Johns Hopkins University and certification from the American Board of Ophthalmology.
“According to Flores’ plea agreement, beginning in June 2017, Flores used false promises and representations to befriend the victim—a physician and successful investor worth more than $60 million, but who suffered from a mental illness and lost the ability to care for himself after multiple hospitalizations,” according to the statement. “Within days of meeting the victim, Flores and Moore moved into the victim’s beachfront Malibu home—rent free—and slowly took control of his life by pretending to be his new ‘best friends’ and caregivers.”
After Sawusch suffered what was described as a “severe mental breakdown,” which resulted in his arrest and detention in LA County jail, Flores fraudulently induced him to sign powers of attorney, granting Flores control over his finances in September 2017, according to the Justice Department, in order to post bail.
“From September 2017 to May 2018, Flores and Moore lived with the victim, diverted the victim’s funds to their own bank accounts, isolated the victim from his family and longtime friends, and provided the victim with drugs, including marijuana and LSD,” the statement continued. “In the final days of the victim’s life in May 2018, Flores and Moore gave the victim LSD, which caused his mental state to severely deteriorate. While the victim was under the influence of LSD, Flores caused the two-step authentication feature on the victim’s $60 million online brokerage account to be changed after previously having changed the phone number listed on the account from the victim’s phone number to his own phone number.”
Four days before Sawusch’s death—after Flores initiated two $1 million wires from his accounts—Flores and Moore left Sawusch, who was in “mental distress and had evicted them from his home,” according to the Justice Department. Moore and Flores watched Sawusch’s deteriorating mental condition from video cameras installed throughout his Malibu beach house, according to the Justice Department, from a luxury hotel paid with his funds.
After Sawusch died in his home in May 2018 at the age of 57, Flores and Moore moved back in and withdrew “large sums of money” from his accounts, according to the Justice Department. They also concealed information about Sawusch’s finances from his mother and sister, who resided in Florida.
“This prompted the victim’s family to file a lawsuit, which resulted in the fraud being uncovered,” according to the statement. “In the ensuing lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, Flores and Moore violated multiple court orders ordering them to return the funds stolen from the victim. They attempted to launder the fraudulent proceeds by funneling the money through multiple different accounts to thwart the victim’s estate and court-appointed receiver from recouping the money.”
Flores and Moore filed false creditor’s claims against the victim’s estate, saying Sawusch “promised” them one-third of his estate, which amounted to $20 million, as well as his Malibu beach house.
“After extensive litigation with the victim’s estate,” according to the statement, “the lawsuit was settled with Flores and Moore withdrawing their false creditor’s claims and agreeing to repay the victim’s estate $1 million, which they have so far failed to do.”
United States District Judge Percy Anderson scheduled a sentencing hearing February 26, 2024, where Flores will face “a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each fraud count, up to 20 years on the conspiracy to commit money laundering and laundering of monetary instruments counts, and up to 10 years on transactional money laundering count.” Moore’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 22, 2024.
“The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter,” the statement concluded. “Assistant United States Attorney Andrew M. Roach of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section is prosecuting this case. Assistant United States Attorney James E. Dochterman of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section is handling asset forfeiture matters in this case.”
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