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Two employers of a West Chester doctor sneakily stole $450,000 of his money to do just that and more, but not before trying to sell one of the doctor's $1 million properties without his permission, according to authorities in Chester County.
Mikayla Zeigler, 22, of West Chester, and Danielle King, 25, of Chadds Ford, "engaged in a cunning scheme to steal from their boss and spent it lavishly on themselves," District Attorney Deb Ryan said.
"They used the money to pay their rent, student loans, and credit card debt, as well as to purchase cars, cosmetics, tattoos, and vacations.
"They had the audacity to forge the doctor’s signature and try to sell over $1 million in real estate and change his will. Their greed is a cautionary tale to remind the community to put financial safeguards in place to prevent fraud and theft.”
An investigation was launched on Sept. 23, 2021 — nearly a month after Zeigler and King abruptly quit their jobs working for Dr. Ramarao Naidu — when the physician found a large amount of money had been stolen from multiple bank and credit card accounts in his name, and in the name of his two businesses, Global Doctors and JVM Associates, Ryan said.
Zeigler and King were identified as possible suspects, and both had worked for him from October 2020 and August 2021.
During the course of their employment, Zeigler and King were entrusted with responsibilities of daily business operations, and convinced Naidu to start using an electronic banking system to streamline operations. This allowed them access to the financial accounts of the victim and his businesses, Ryan said.
Both Zeigler and King worked in positions that allowed them to maintain control over banking and other information including access to checks, debit cards, account numbers, credit cards. Zeigler and King also oversaw and collected any incoming bank statements and subsequent records of purchases.
"On August 25, 2021, both co-defendants abruptly left their employment under the victim," the DA said.
During the course of the investigation, detectives found that a total of $451,431 had been stolen from four bank accounts and six credit card accounts belonging to the doctor.
From Jan. 22, 2021, to Sept. 16, 2021, the women stole $256,950.88 through 80 unauthorized payments from four of his bank accounts. These funds went to both Zeigler and King’s personal banks accounts, PayPal accounts, Applecard accounts, and car and student loan payment accounts, according to the DA.
Between Jan. 11, 2021, and Aug. 23, 2021, Zeigler used various credit cards to steal $108,302 and would send money to their boyfriends and family. They also spent $68,517 on tanning salons, health care, vet bills, hair care and tattoos, trips to Wildwood and Avalon, NJ, cash advances, furniture, travel purchases, Amazon items, PayPal purchases, and miscellaneous purchases, Ryan said.
Detectives identified a pattern where Ziegler would send money from her PayPal account to her boyfriend as well as King’s account to launder the money, according to Ryan. Ziegler took money from the doctor’s American Express account and put it in her own PayPal account and then forward it on to her boyfriend’s PayPal account. Her boyfriend then returned money back to Zeigler’s account immediately in the same amount. Over $19,000 was laundered back from his account.
Detectives noted that King engaged in a pattern that involved Zeigler sending King large sums of money from the victim’s credit card accounts to her personal PayPal account and then subsequently sent the funds to King’s personal PayPal account, authorities said. More than $11,800 in stolen funds were taken by Zeigler to pay her rent at Ashbridge Apartments in Exton, the DA said.
Detectives also found that both defendants made plans with a real estate agent to sell land that belonged to the doctor. In June 2021, both defendants contacted She Moves Philly/Keller Williams Philadelphia, Realtor Company on multiple occasions to arrange for the sale of two lots located on the doctor’s property in East Bradford Township, Chester County.
The values of the lots were assessed but the realtor never spoke with the victim, and all significant documents were signed and sent through a DocuSign program by the defendants, Ryan said. The properties were listed for a total of 29 days, with one lot listed for sale at $535,000 and the second lot listed for sale at $500,000. The properties were removed from the listings shortly after the realtor received a call from the victim’s family. The victim would have suffered a financial loss of $1,035,000 from the property sale, had it gone through.
Police also discovered an email purporting to be from the victim was sent to his attorneys to change his will on May 27, 2021. The request made was to adjust his estate plan which would reduce the amount given to his family upon his death but would provide Zeigler 85% control of the remaining portion of his estate. The victim told investigators that the estate plan changes in the email were not accurate and Zeigler was not listed as a beneficiary.
King and Zeigler were charged with theft by unlawful taking, conspiracy, dealing in unlawful proceeds, forgery, identity theft, and related charges. Zeigler is further charged with stealing money from another co-worker at the doctor’s practice totaling over $7,000 from April 9, 2021 to Aug. 4, 2021.
Mikayla Zeigler and Danielle King forged the doctor's signature to try to change his will and sell more than $1 million in real estate, authorities said.
The defendants were arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Mark Lieberman, and bail was set at $100,000 cash unsecured. A preliminary hearing is set for June 2. Chester County Detectives are investigating. Deputy District Attorney William Judge is the assigned prosecutor.
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