YORK, Pa. — Editor's note: The above video is from Jan. 2020.
A York County woman charged with embezzlement and other offenses in 2020 is facing an additional federal charge for engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity, U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus announced Tuesday.
Melinda Bixler, 49, is accused of purchasing a $685,000 home in York using money she obtained through various unlawful means, Gurganus said.
Bixler was previously charged in January 2020 with three counts of Corrupt Organizations, Theft, Conspiracy to Commit Theft and Receiving Stolen Property stemming from her alleged embezzlement of nearly $800,000 from the non-profit group Adult Care Advocates, which she owned.
Adult Care Advocates, was supposed to be helping seniors who could not afford healthcare and living expenses. But Bixler instead used client funds for her own personal gain, police said in 2020.
In the federal case, Gurganus said Bixler obtained a mortgage loan for the purchase of a $685,000 home by submitting multiple false statements to York Traditions Bank.
These false statements allegedly included a forged letter from the owners of a business property that Bixler had previously purchased stating that she no longer owed money to the prior owners, when in fact she was still making monthly payments on it, according to Gurganus.
Bixler also allegedly obtained a gift letter from her son stating that he was giving her $350,000 from his own personal funds, when Bixler actually funneled money to her son through a series of transactions that disguised the true sources of the funds, Gurganus said.
One source of these funds was $78,000 that Bixler took from the bank account of M.H., a 94-year-old woman living in a nursing home in Lancaster County, Gurganus said.
Bixler was then the power of attorney for M.H., and she therefore had access to the elderly client’s bank account, according to Gurganus.
The case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, York County District Attorney’s Office, York County Area Agency on Aging, and the Pennsylvania Department of Aging, Protective Services Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Romel Sharma is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, the maximum penalty under federal law is 10 years’ imprisonment. This charge may also carry a fine and a term of supervised release following imprisonment.