A woman who spent a quarter of a century as an employee of a real estate firm in California stands accused of embezzling more than $1 million from the company.
Last week, 53-year-old Julie Blease was arrested on suspicion of the seven-figure defrauding of the owner of a Del Mar apartment complex, NBC San Diego reported. A 56-year-old, Colin Miller, was also arrested in the case; the two are siblings, according to Sgt. Marcello Orsini.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department launched an investigation after the company reported the alleged theft in late 2021. The victim of the alleged crime was the Beach Colony Apartments on Camino Del Mar, according to The Coast News. It’s run by the Douglas Allred Company.
Blease, a property manager, allegedly began funneling money from Beach Colony as early as 2007. She allegedly funneled the money to both herself and Miller, accused of covering up the misdeed by manipulating company accounting records. The money allegedly stemmed from residents’ rent checks; monthly rents at the 86-unit complex range from $2,621 to $4,463, according to Apartments.com.
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The sheriff department’s fraud unit spent two years investigating the case prior to making the arrests. The department suspects the total volume of the alleged embezzlement to greatly exceed the $1 million already confirmed to have been redirected.
Both suspects were arrested and held on $500,000 bail.
Blease is facing five felony charges, including embezzlement, identity theft, forgery and money laundering. Miller is also facing five felony charges, including grand theft, identity theft, forgery and money laundering. Both suspects also had a white-collar crime enhancement tacked on to their charges, which increases penalties in a felony fraud case in the state of California.
Blease and Miller each face up to 22 years in prison if convicted, plus another five years due to the enhancement.
— Holden Walter-Warner