A King County judge Thursday ordered the bank accounts of a five companies frozen in response to a lawsuit brought by the state Attorney General’s Office that accuses seven people of manipulating the probate system to enrich themselves.
Seven defendants, three from Tacoma, have been sued for illegally gaining control over hundreds of estates belonging to deceased people. Those named include John B Elliot of Tacoma, Shanelle Sunde of Tacoma, Brady Howard of Florida, Grace Kinney of Bremerton and Julie Ellis of Tacoma.
Attorneys Robert Brouillard and Douglas Owens were also named, alleging they knowingly facilitated Elliot’s mishandling of estate funds, among other alleged misconduct, according to court documents…