‘He meant to bleed her dry’: Fox Island financial advisor sentenced for $920K elder fraud

A 57-year-old Fox Island man was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison for his scheme to steal more than $920,000 from an elderly woman who trusted him as her financial advisor.

John Winslow was indicted more than one year ago on four counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, four counts of money laundering, and four counts of making and subscribing a false tax return, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.

Financial advisor used his victim’s trust, cognitive decline to fund a luxury lifestyle

Winslow was a financial advisor at a national firm until he was fired for stealing more than $920,000 in life savings and inheritance from a 70-year-old widow.

“This crime was personal,” U.S. District Judge Tiffany Cartwright stated. “Mr. Winslow had a longstanding relationship with this victim.”

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd noted Winslow had a close relationship with the victim and used her cognitive decline to support a luxurious lifestyle, which included purchasing a home and a new car.

“Over about four years, this defendant stole more than $900,000 from an elderly victim. First, he ingratiated himself with the victim. He took her grocery shopping and bought her flowers and chocolate. Then, he took advantage of her trust, her cognitive decline, and isolation,” Floyd stated. “He used the victim’s funds to live with luxuries — buying an island home, installing a hot tub, and purchasing a new car. All the while, the victim scrimped and lived on a limited budget. This prison sentence holds him accountable.”

Winslow moved funds out of the victim’s brokerage accounts with the financial services firm and into her outside bank account through several transactions. This was done to conceal his fraud by placing the victim’s funds outside of the firm’s surveillance system.

From the victim’s outside bank account, the funds were then transferred into Winslow’s bank account, which was again done through several transactions. Winslow used his trusted status with the victim to further carry out the fraud.

Winslow falsely claimed to the victim that if she transferred money to him, he would repay her at a higher interest rate than what she had been receiving from her bank. He visited the victim in her home and instructed her to call the bank and place the call on speaker. Winslow then told the victim what to tell the banker, and eventually used the stolen funds for his own benefit.

“Lies, deceit, and fraud are not things that should be associated with any financial advisor trusted to protect a client’s hard-earned money. However, Mr. Winslow chose exactly these things when he callously stole from his client,” Special Agent in Charge Carrie Nordyke, IRS Criminal Investigation, Seattle Field Office, stated.

Winslow funneled stolen funds through gold coin purchases to hide the money trail

In order to hide the illicit nature of the funds, Winslow moved the victim’s money through extra layers of transactions. In one instance, Winslow purchased gold coins through an online gold retailer under multiple transactions. The gold coins were then sold to two local gold retailers before being deposited into his bank account.

Prosecutors argued Winslow’s “persistent” and “intentional” fraud deserved a 70-month prison sentence, considering Winslow made the decision to steal from the victim through each transaction.

“Before each of these transactions, Winslow had the chance to stop and to ponder what he was doing to his victim. But he did not stop. He wanted the gravy train to keep on going,” prosecutors said. “He kept at it even after his withdrawals from [the victim’s] accounts triggered an elderly fraud alert. And he meant to bleed [the victim] dry. The only thing that stopped him from taking more of [the victim’s] money was getting caught.”

During the fraud scheme, Winslow also failed to report any funds he stole from the victim on his federal tax returns, which resulted in a tax loss of approximately $254,000.

Cartwright ordered Winslow to pay $1,175,475 in restitution, which represented the theft from the victim and the tax loss to the U.S.

The victim ultimately sued the financial services firm, and they settled the lawsuit for $920,483. The DOJ noted that the amount of restitution is due to the financial services firm, and the victim, unfortunately, had to pay attorney fees of nearly $321,000 to obtain the settlement and still suffered a financial loss.

Winslow agreed to forfeit his home on Fox Island to help pay his restitution obligation.

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