A West Hills woman faces sentencing Friday for forging power-of-attorney documents to steal millions of dollars in real estate assets from at least two men who reportedly died under questionable circumstances.
Caroline Herrling, 44, also known as Carrie Phenix, pleaded guilty one year ago in downtown Los Angeles to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Herrling, along with unnamed co-conspirators, stole the identities of victims who owned real estate, disposing of the body of at least one victim to make it appear that he was still alive, court papers show.
Among of Herrling’s alleged victims was 71-year-old Charles Wilding of Sherman Oaks, who vanished from his home in the fall of 2020, federal prosecutors said.
“Members of the conspiracy removed and hid the body of Charles Wilding to make it appear that he was still alive and supported the disposition of his assets the conspirators wanted,” according to Herrling’s plea agreement, filed last year in Los Angeles federal court.
Herrling forged wills for Wilding and another man, leaving assets to members of the conspiracy or identities they controlled, court papers show.
The defendant also forged power of attorney forms so she could pretend to act on behalf of her victims when stealing their real estate and savings and investment accounts, federal prosecutors say.
Herrling admitted setting up bank and E-Trade accounts to receive the proceeds of the sale of a third man’s real estate, which he did not authorize and was accomplished through identity theft, according to the plea agreement.