Woman jailed for stealing $248K from heir to man’s estate

NORRISTOWN >> A Philadelphia woman is on her way to jail for embezzling nearly $250,000 from the heir to the estate of an Abington man who had enlisted her help while finalizing the estate.

Angeline Johns, 55, of the 7600 block of Brentwood Road, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to eight to 23 months in the county jail, to be followed by seven years of probation, after she pleaded guilty to a felony charge of theft by deception in connection with incidents that occurred between January 2014 and October 2015. Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who accepted a plea agreement in the matter, also ordered Johns to pay a total of $248,476 in restitution to the sole beneficiary of the estate from which she stole.

Johns, who was a cousin to the heir, came to court with a check for about $40,000 to pay toward that restitution, officials said.

“There are a number of awful things about this, one being just the sheer amount that was taken,” said county Assistant District Attorney Meghan Carney, explaining the heir, a young man in his 20s, incurred financial problems as a result of the theft. “This wasn’t a stranger doing this to another stranger, but a family member. So this was a complete abuse of trust. He relied on this family member and she took advantage of him.”

Johns was represented by defense lawyer Jonathan Krinick.

An investigation began in December 2015 when a 22-year-old Abington resident went to township police to report the theft. The victim told police his father had passed away in November 2013 and that he was the sole beneficiary of two life insurance policies that had been carried by his late father.

The victim stated that Johns, a cousin, had volunteered to help him after his father’s passing and a financial account was opened at a local bank in both their names, according to the criminal complaint filed by Abington Police Officer Joseph Fallon.

“The victim asked for the help of the defendant in just managing that money and going through the procedures of the inheritance process,” Carney explained. “In doing that she did have access to the estate and gained knowledge about the life insurance policy.”

Sometime thereafter, the checks from the life insurance policies were deposited into the account by Johns.

“These deposits were conducted without (the victim’s) knowledge,” Fallon alleged, adding between 2014 and 2015 numerous transactions were conducted by Johns, which ultimately depleted the account.

Johns allegedly transferred funds from the estate account directly to her personal account and at other times directly withdrew funds from the estate account.

“(The victim) stated that he had limited knowledge of the financial account and prior to learning of the theft he had no

“This wasn’t a stranger doing this to another stranger, but a family member. So this was a complete abuse of trust. He relied on this family member and she took advantage of him.”

— Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Meghan Carney “(The victim) stated that he had limited knowledge of the financial account and prior to learning of the theft he had no understanding of the total amount which was left to him by his father.”

— Abington Police Officer Joseph Fallon

understanding of the total amount which was left to him by his father. (The victim) stated that he never authorized Johns to utilize these funds,” Fallon alleged in the arrest affidavit.

When detectives confronted Johns about the theft “she admitted to spending approximately $100,000 of this money on gambling,” according to the criminal complaint.

“Johns also admitted that some of the money was spent on her personal bills and house. Johns stated that she knew she was not authorized to use this money,” Fallon said.