A Pennsylvania estate planning attorney who last year published a self-help book on weathering life’s adversities has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for stealing more than $6.3 million from client funds to pay for personal and business expenses.
As ElderLawAnswers previously reported, Wendy Weikal-Beauchat (right), a Gettysburg estate and long-term care planning attorney, was charged with defrauding numerous clients, many of them elderly, between 2007 and 2013. Weikal-Beauchat convinced the clients -- more than 30 in all -- to entrust their savings with her in return for above-market interest rates. She then used the money to pay her law firm expenses and live a lavish lifestyle. She covered her tracks by providing the clients with fake certificates of deposit and IRS 1099 forms for reporting interest.
Weikal-Beauchat was disbarred in February 2013 and on November 15, 2013, pleaded guilty in federal court to money laundering and wire fraud.
At the sentencing in federal court, Judge John E. Jones III called Weikal-Beauchat "pathological," "unrepentant" and "a common thief." Declaring that Weikal-Beauchat's apology was "hollow," the judge also ordered her to pay $6.36 million in restitution and $6.34 million in forfeiture. Victims in the courtroom clapped as Weikal-Beauchat was led away in handcuffs, according to an article on Penn Live.
However, the judge conceded that full restitution may be a bit hopeful. So far, investigators have been able to locate only $700,000 in stolen funds.
In September 2013, Weikal-Beauchat published Courage for the Journey: Wisdom for the Broken Road (AuthorHouse), which “assembles a collection of wisdom to ignite courage, hope, and strength in those caught in the inevitable storms of life,” according to promotional material accompanying the book’s Amazon.com listing.
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