For over six years, a Los Angeles-area fiduciary altered bank statements and fudged court reports to steal more than $6 million from his clients, the California Attorney General’s Office claims, setting up what it called a “Ponzi-style” scheme to rob people who can’t take care of themselves.
In May, state prosecutors filed grand theft charges against Gregory Oveross and his accountant, Faranita L. Corvalan, alleging what would be one of the largest fiduciary thefts in California history. Oveross and Corvalan pleaded not guilty and have been released on bond, awaiting trial.
Prosecutors say Oveross misled his clients and the probate court. But court and other public records reviewed by CalMatters show that court officials and the state Professional Fiduciaries Bureau missed red flags years before Oveross was charged, highlighting our ongoing reporting into the state’s weak oversight of fiduciaries, who have the power to control people’s finances and basic aspects of their lives…