Saratoga Springs Woman Sentenced for Misappropriating Funds as the Fiduciary to a Veteran

ALBANY, NEW YORK – JoAnne Natalie, age 65, of Saratoga Springs, New York, was sentenced today to serve 3 months in jail for misappropriating the funds of a veteran as his appointed fiduciary. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Christopher F. Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Field Office for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General, made the announcement.

In previously pleading guilty, Natalie admitted that after being appointed as a fiduciary for a veteran, between September 2019 and January 2021, she stole $50,174.42 of the veteran’s VA benefits by using the benefits, which were deposited into the veteran’s bank account, for her own personal ends. She also admitted to willfully neglecting and failing to submit required accountings to the VA.

United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby also sentenced Natalie to 2 years of supervised release, including 3 months of home detention, following her term of incarceration, and ordered her to pay restitution to the estate of the veteran.

The VA Office of Inspector General investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander P. Wentworth-Ping prosecuted the case.

This case is part of the Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative. The mission of the Elder Justice Initiative is to support and coordinate the Department’s enforcement and programmatic efforts to combat elder abuse, neglect and financial fraud and scams that target our nation’s older adults. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving elders can call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-372-8311.