A woman in California appropriated luxurious houses by deceiving property owners.

A Los Angeles, California woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison for obtaining real estate by fraudulent means. She sought out elderly and sick owners of luxury houses and appropriated their property, reports New York Post.

Photo: iStock.com/Bill Oxford

Caroline Joan Herrling, 44, of West Hills, was sentenced March 22 to 20 years in prison. She is ordered to pay $3 in damages for her elaborate real estate racket. Read about the most famous American scammers who defrauded millionaires and the US government in our material.

Ruthless scheme

Herrling, known as Carrie Phoenix, and her accomplices preyed on vulnerable victims. They were looking for properties in wealthy areas that looked unkempt.

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The scammer used online mapping programs and visited upscale neighborhoods in search of neglected pools and shrub-filled yards. She targeted homes whose owners were unable to take care of their property.

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In 2020, Caroline and her accomplices found a luxury home in the Sherman Oaks area of ​​Los Angeles, where a 71-year-old man named Charles Wilding lived. The criminals took the owner of the property into the fraudulent scheme.

“In September 2020, the victim suddenly died - investigators do not know how exactly. “They believe Herrling and her accomplices took possession of the property while the owner’s body was decomposing in his own home,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

“Instead of reporting the man’s death, the scammers left his body in the house while they took his property. Herrling used a fake power of attorney. She pretended to act on behalf of the victim while she stole the deceased's property and financial accounts,” the statement said.

Lies to the police

Authorities began investigating the case in October 2021 when neighbors reported Wilding missing.

“Herrling introduced herself to police as a close friend of the deceased and his family. She was listed as a trustee of the victim's family trust, which was allegedly created by her mother, who died in June 2017. But in fact, the documents were forgeries,” the Department of Justice noted.

“She told police the victim had moved from Sherman Oaks to Carpinteria. This was not true as the victim was already dead by that time,” officials said.

The forged document indicated that Wilding was to inherit an estate worth more than $1,7 million, assets that eventually came under Herrling's control as trustee of his estate.

Herrling told police she was working to get the house in order.

The heartless woman and her accomplices moved the body to her apartment, where they tried to dissolve it in a “chemical mixture,” authorities said. When this grisly plan failed, the scammers dismembered the corpse, placed the body parts in vacuum bags and took them to the Bay Area.

“Another conspirator, who owned a sailboat, helped dump the victim’s mutilated remains into the San Francisco Bay,” officials said.

These victim's remains were never found.

Another victim

Another victim of the criminals is Robert Tuscon. The scammer sold his house without the owner's consent using fake documents.

“Herrling opened accounts to receive proceeds from the sale of the new victim's property. This transaction generated approximately $1,5 million, officials said.

“The victim, who was already suffering from mental health problems, took her own life after losing her home. Herrling later used her ill-gotten gains to purchase a home in West Hills,” they said.

Herrling has been in federal custody since January 2023. Two months later, she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

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One of her accomplices, Matthew Jason Kroth, 50, pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

He faces up to 20 years in prison for fraud and up to 40 years for trafficking methamphetamine.

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