SAN FRANCISCO—Agents from the Federal
Bureau of Investigation arrested two defendants this morning for stealing
assets of deceased people whose estates they administered as public employees,
announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Stephanie Douglas, Special
Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in San Francisco. The
charges were contained in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury
yesterday and unsealed today after the arrest of Mandy Natchi Yagi, 54, of San
Mateo, California, and Peter Wong, 43, of Daly City, California.
The indictment charges Yagi and Wong
with conspiracy to commit theft from a federally funded program, in violation
of 18 U.S.C. § 371, and theft concerning a federally funded program, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(A).
The San Mateo County government includes
a Public Administrator who is responsible for investigating and administering
the estates of county residents who die without a will or an appropriate person
willing and able to act as the estate administrator. Yagi and Wong were
employed as deputy public administrators until late 2011. Deputy public
administrators are county employees who administer the estates under the Public
Administrator’s jurisdiction. A deputy public administrator’s duties include
protecting the decedent’s property from waste, loss, or theft; making
appropriate burial arrangements; conducting investigations to discover the
decedent’s assets; liquidating assets at public sale or distributing them to
heirs; paying the decedent’s bills and taxes; locating people entitled to
inherit from the estates; and ensuring that these people received their
inheritances.
In their official capacities as deputy
public administrators, Yagi and Wong had access to the assets—including cash,
financial instruments, bank accounts, and valuable items such as jewelry—of the
estates they administered. The indictment charges Yagi and Wong with using this
access to take possession of estate assets for their personal benefit and for
the benefit of persons other than the rightful owner.
The defendants made their initial
appearances in federal court this morning before United States Magistrate Judge
Nathanael Cousins and were ordered released subject to the posting of $100,000
unsecured bonds. They are next scheduled to appear before Judge Cousins on June
27 for identification of counsel.
The maximum statutory penalty for
conspiracy to commit theft from a federally funded program is five years. The
maximum penalty for theft concerning a federally funded program is 10 years.
Any sentence following conviction, however, would be imposed by the court after
consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute
governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Drew Caputo is the assistant United
States attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Rosario
Calderon and Courtney Tellian. The prosecution is the result of an
investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, building on an initial
investigation by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. The San Mateo County
Sheriff’s Office has continued to assist the FBI in the investigation that
resulted in this prosecution.
An indictment contains only allegations
against an individual. As with all defendants, Yagi and Wong must be presumed
innocent unless and until they are proven guilty. proven guilty.
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