By Chelsea Phua
cphua@sacbee.com
A 53-year-old woman was sentenced Tuesday to four years in state prison for embezzling more than $500,000 from an elderly Elk Grove couple and evading taxes on her illegal income, authorities said.
Officials from the Sacramento County District Attorney's office and state Franchise Tax Board said Jocelyn Pascual Wong pleaded no contest to one felony count of grand theft and one felony count of state income tax evasion.
Authorities said Wong, who is an undocumented immigrant from the Philippines, befriended the 89-year-old husband and his 85-year-old wife, both retired school teachers.
She became their in-home health care provider, and the couple started to rely on Wong. They became so fond of her that they would refer to her as their daughter.
Wong asked the wife for money, promising that she would pay back the loan, authorities said. Instead, she used some of the money for living expenses, but gambled away most of it at a local casino. From 2006 to 2009, authorities said Wong stole $527,000 from her victims, by withdrawing cash from their bank account or having them write checks to cash or her family members.
Prosecutors said the victims had saved diligently to secure a comfortable retirement and Wong drained their savings and left them in financial disarray.
Wong later admitted to Elk Grove police investigators that she had no way to repay the couple.
Wong also failed to report $460,000 of the illegal income on her 2006 to 2008 state income tax returns. FTB officials said all income is taxable, including income from illegal sources.
Wong is ordered to make restitution to the victims and the Franchise Tax Board.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.