South Jersey Woman Pleads Guilty in Scheme to Defraud Elderly Clients

A Linwood woman pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme with her sister and a lawyer to defraud elderly clients in Atlantic and Cape May counties out of millions of dollars, and laundering the funds through various accounts, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said on Monday.

Sondra Steen, 60, pleaded guilty to first-degree money laundering. She faces 10 years in state prison, including 4 ½ years of parole ineligibility. She will be jointly and severally liable for full restitution in an amount to be determined.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 4.

She was indicted along with her sister, Jan Van Holt, 59, of Linwood. Van Holt was the owner of A Better Choice, a company that offered elderly clients in-home care and legal financial planning.

Also indicted were William Price, 57, of Linwood, who previously pleaded guilty to a second-degree charge of theft by deception; and Susan Hamlett, 56, of Egg Harbor Township, who worked as an aide for company clients. A physician, Dr. Maria Teresa S. Daclan, 53, of Galloway Township, is charged with lying to State Police during the investigation.

Steen admitted that she and Van Holt conspired with Barbara Lieberman, 63, of Northfield, a lawyer who specialized in elder law, to steal over $2.7 million from 12 elderly clients from January 2003 through December 2012.

Lieberman pleaded guilty to money laundering and was sentenced on March 25 to 10 years in prison, including 3 ½ years of parole ineligibility. She forfeited $3 million in assets as well as her law license.

Van Holt worked as a caseworker for Atlantic County Adult Protective Services from 2002 through December 2007, when she was terminated.

Five of the 12 alleged victims targeted by Van Holt, Steen and Lieberman were recruited as clients after they came into contact with Van Holt through her official public position as a caseworker.

It is alleged that Van Holt generally was the one to identify potential clients, approaching them to offer the services of A Better Choice and Lieberman. The defendants allegedly targeted elderly clients with substantial assets who typically did not have any immediate family, offering them non-medical care and services, including household chores, errands, driving clients to appointments, scheduling, budgeting, paying bills, balancing checkbooks, and other tasks. They did not provide healthcare services.

Once a target accepted Van Holt’s offer of services, Steen usually would be put in place as the victim’s primary caregiver. In the case of the elderly couple connected to Price, Price also provided extensive assistance, particularly with household repairs. Lieberman would then be brought in to do legal work, preparing powers of attorney and wills for the clients. Lieberman was a leading specialist in elder law in Atlantic County who gave seminars to senior citizens on end of life affairs, wills and living wills.

They allegedly took control of the finances of their victims by forging a power of attorney or obtaining one on false pretenses. They then added their names to the victims’ bank accounts or transferred the victims’ funds into new accounts they controlled. Thereafter, the defendants allegedly stole from the accounts to pay their own expenses, including, for Van Holt and Steen – who lived together – veterinary bills for their pets, pool supplies, two Mercedes cars owned by Van Holt, and lease payments on a Florida condo.

A portion of the money was allegedly used to fund the victim’s continued expenses to keep the victim unaware of the thefts. In some cases, money from one victim would be transferred to another victim to pay expenses and cover up the thefts.

If the victim owned stocks or bonds, those funds were allegedly cashed out and deposited into the account allegedly controlled by the defendants.

When Lieberman prepared wills for the victims, she typically named herself or Van Holt as executor of the estate and named Steen as a beneficiary, or named other beneficiaries who had little or no ties to the victim and never actually received anything from the estate.

The defendants allegedly relied on fraud, manipulation or forgery in the execution of the wills. In this manner, they allegedly continued to steal from the victims’ estates after they died.

Lieberman and Van Holt were arrested on March 19, 2014. Van Holt previously was arrested with Steen and Hamlett on Dec. 20, 2012, in connection with one victim.

The investigation began after the New Jersey Office of the Public Guardian referred the case of that victim to the State Police. In addition to the first-degree conspiracy and money laundering charges against Van Holt and Steen, they and Hamlett are charged with second-degree counts of conspiracy, money laundering and theft.

The attached image of Sondra Steen was provided by the Attorney General’s Office