Insurance Agents Allegedly Steal $1.1M From Elderly Woman

MARINA DEL REY, CA – A pair of Marina del Rey insurance agents are expected to be arraigned Tuesday on multiple felony charges in the alleged theft of more than $1.1 million from an elderly client, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced. Clement Lancelot Chichester, 68, and his wife, Brittney Jade Sias, 56, also known as Rosalie Sias, are set to appear in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

The couple are charged with one count of theft from an elder, one count of forgery for public record and two counts of forgery by passing a forged document, according to the District Attorney's Office. Chichester also is charged with two counts of passing a non-sufficient funds check exceeding $950 and 22 counts of untrue statement or omission of material fact in sale of securities.

The charges include special allegations of fraud and embezzlement and taking of property.

Chichester was the 91-year-old victim's longtime insurance agent and financial adviser. Sias assisted Chichester in the business, which operated out of a West Los Angeles office, the prosecutor said. Chichester allegedly invested the victim's money in securities without making legally required material disclosures about the investments, which ultimately cost the victim $693,000, the prosecutor said.

He also purchased his client's Culver City rental property for half of its $1 million market value, and then allegedly wrote bad checks to pay for the interest on the mortgage and a loan provided by the victim, the prosecutor said. Chichester still owes the victim $450,000 for the property, according to the prosecutor.

Sias allegedly filed a false reconveyance document for the property with an insurance company and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor has requested bail be set at $1.45 million for Chichester and $450,000 for Sias. If convicted as charged, Chichester faces up to 35 years and four months in state prison, while Sias could be sentenced to a maximum of nine years and four months in prison.

The case remains under investigation by the California Department of Insurance. Anyone who believes they may be a victim of Chichester and Sias is asked to call the department's Investigation Division at (661) 253-7500.

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