2 Charged In Fraud Scheme Against Malibu-Based Physician: DOJ

MALIBU, CA — A hair stylist and actress were charged in a 12-count indictment related to a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud a physician, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

Anthony David Flores, 46, of Fresno and Anna Rene Moore, 39, are expected to appear in Los Angeles federal court in the coming weeks on charges of conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property, according to the DOJ.

Flores pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and is scheduled for a detention hearing next week in the Eastern District of California. Moore, who currently resides in Monterrey, Mexico, was arrested Tuesday and made her initial court appearance in the Southern District of Texas.

The two are accused of using "false promises and representations" to befriend a wealthy physician and slowly take control of his life and finances, according to the Department of Justice. The physician had "suffered from a mental illness and lost the ability to care for himself," according to the department. The relationship began in June 2017.

"Within days of meeting the victim, Flores and Moore moved into the victim’s beachfront Malibu home – rent free – and slowly took control of his life by pretending to be his new “best friends” and caregivers," the Department of Justice said in a statement.

By September, Flores had taken over the physician's finances after a mental breakdown resulted in his arrest and detention, the department said. Flores and Moore are accused of diverting the physician's funds to their own accounts and providing him with drugs. Flores and Moore are accused of giving the physician LSD and securing access to his $60-million bank accounts and initiating million-dollar wire transfers to their own bank accounts.

The two left him until the physician died in May 2018 at the age of 57, at which point the two moved back into the Malibu home and withdrew money from his bank accounts, according to the department.

City News Service contributed to this report.