YORK, Pa. — A York County woman accused of using ill-gotten money obtained through various illegal methods to finance the purchase of a $685,000 house pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity in U.S. Middle District Court.
Melinda Bixler, 49, entered the plea before U.S. Judge Sylvia H. Rambo, according to U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus.
Bixler operated two businesses — one a for-profit company called Elder Healthcare Solutions, the other a non-profit company called Adult Care Advocates — providing services to elderly clients in Central Pennsylvania, Gurganus said.
Both businesses operated from an office location at 4070 W. Market St. in York.
Gurganus said Bixler obtained a mortgage loan for the purchase of her home by submitting multiple false statements to York Traditions Bank. These false statements 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.
Bixler also obtained a false gift letter from a third party wherein that third party stated that he was gifting Bixler $350,000 from his own personal funds when Bixler actually funneled money to that third party 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 a 94-year-old woman residing at a nursing home in Lancaster County, according to Gurganus. At the time, Bixler had power of attorney for the victim, and had access to the elderly client’s bank account.
Bixler agreed to pay a total of $147,882 to three former clients from whom she misappropriated funds. She also agreed to forfeit the property at 4070 W. Market St., along with $129,357.01, the balance in a bank account belonging to Adult Care Advocates.
Finally, Bixler agreed to resign her positions with both Elder Healthcare Solutions and Adult Care Advocates, Gurganus said.
