Ventura Man sentenced to 7 years for theft from elderly victim in Ojai
diagnosis arial, order sans-serif;”>Mark Loren Adams of Ventura, physician was sentenced to serve seven years in state prison. On May 27, 2015, Adams pleaded guilty to seven felony counts of elder theft, obtaining money by false pretenses, diversion of construction funds, filing a fraudulent instrument, and admitted a white collar crime enhancement for taking in excess of $500,000. This case was jointly investigated by the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) and the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation.
On May 8, 2009, the elderly victim entered into a written construction contract with Adams to perform a roof repair at his Ojai residence. Over the course of the next three months, Adams convinced the elderly victim to enter into 17 additional contracts for a total charge of $775,000. Even after the victim had paid the full contract amount, Adams charged the victim an additional $523,000. Adams hired mostly unlicensed workers and failed to obtain the required permits. After the victim’s son demanded an accounting, Adams filed a fraudulent mechanics lien. An industry expert concluded that the value of the work that Adams actually performed under the written contract was approximately $393,000.
In addition to the prison sentence, Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Bennett ordered Adams to pay $1,266,689 in restitution to the victim.
Ventura County District Attorney
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