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Former IRS Agent Arrested In Alleged Ponzi Scheme That Price Aged Santa Rosa Sufferer $1M – CBS San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A former IRS agent and current tax expert from Southern California was arrested last week and accused of operating a pyramid scheme that defrauded an elderly Santa Rosa woman of more than $1 million over seven years.

On Monday, Santa Rosa Police identified the suspect as Elana Cohen-Roth, 77, of Marina Del Rey. Police said Cohen-Roth’s Ponzi scheme consisted of making interest payments to her investors/victims while incoming “investment” funds were used to support her lavish lifestyle.

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The victim first reported the alleged fraud in December 2020, telling police that she had entrusted a significant amount of money to an acquaintance to invest on her behalf. The woman told police she met the suspect through a mutual friend in 2012.

In January 2021, police said the department’s Property Crimes Unit had obtained search warrants for the Marina Del Rey home of Elana Cohen-Roth, 77, as well as her employer’s Los Angeles office, and confiscated boxes of financial documents and correspondence. As of Monday evening, the tax law firm listed Mather Anderson Cohen-Roth on a page of its website as a registered agent and tax filing practitioner with 20 years of IRS experience, including tax inspectors, field staff and appellate officers. To update: The website has since been removed.

In an email to CBS News San Francisco, Mather Anderson said, “Elana is not and never was an employee of Mather Anderson. She is involved in certain IRS cases for the accounting services firm. She also rents space from the company. This matter has nothing to do with any of the company’s customers.” Police have not charged Mather Anderson with any wrongdoing.

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More than 12 months after the initial search warrants, detectives served additional search warrants, combed through additional documents and electronic communications, and interviewed additional victims, police said. Detectives also checked bank accounts and thousands of transactions over several years for the victim and suspect.

According to police, the victim had lost more than $1 million to Cohen-Roth over a seven-year period. The victim told police she believed she was investing in lucrative, high-yield opportunities. When she ran out of funds to invest and asked for her investments, the suspect’s behavior and communications raised the victim’s suspicions, police said.

Detectives confirmed their suspicions and learned that the victim had lost more than $1 million to the suspect over a seven-year period. The victim believed she was investing in lucrative, high-yield investment opportunities, but police said when the victim ran out of funds to invest and asked for her investments to be liquidated, the suspect’s behavior and communications raised suspicions.

On January 18, Santa Rosa Police officers, assisted by Los Angeles police officers, arrested Cohen-Roth at her home in Marina Del Rey and ordered her to prison on 22 counts of financial elder abuse and three counts of money laundering LA Metropolitan Detention Center. She was due to be transferred to the Sonoma County Jail this week.

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Santa Rosa Police said detectives believe there are other victims of Cohen-Roth’s pyramid scheme in California who have also committed significant funds to high-yield investments. Police urged anyone who believes they may be a victim to contact their local jurisdiction. Potential Sonoma County victims were asked to contact SRPD Property Crimes Detective Jeff Woods at JRWoods@srcity.org.

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