SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A former IRS agent and current tax Southern California tax professional was arrested last week and accused of running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded an elderly Santa Rosa woman of more than $1 million over seven years.
On Monday, Santa Rosa police identified the suspect as Elana Cohen-Roth, 77, of Marina Del Rey. Police said Cohen-Roth’s Ponzi scheme consisted of making interest payments to her investors/victims, while using incoming “investment” funds to allow for her lavish lifestyle.
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The victim initially reported the alleged fraud in December 2020, telling police she had entrusted a significant amount of funds to an acquaintance to invest on her behalf. The woman told police she met the suspect in 2012 through a mutual friend.
In January 2021, police said the department’s property crimes units obtained search warrants for the Marina Del Rey home of Elana Cohen-Roth, 77, as well as at her employer’s office in Los Angeles, seizing boxes of financial documents and correspondence. Until Monday evening, tax attorney firm Mather Anderson listed Cohen-Roth in a page on its website as an enrolled agent and tax return practitioner with 20 years of IRS experience including tax auditor, field agent and appeals officer. Update: The web page has since been removed.
In an email to CBS News San Francisco, Mather Anderson said, “Elana is not an employee of Mather Anderson and…
