By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE — An 83-year-old Upper East Side woman and her daughter lost much of their life savings after they were fraudulently advised to convert their assets into rare gold coins, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said Tuesday.
Stephanie Brown, a rare coin dealer from Arizona, first convinced the unidentified mother-daughter pair to hand over more than $1 million to buy roughly 160 rare gold and silver coins, prosecutors said.
Then, under the guise of organizing the collection, Brown allegedly stole back 57 of the coins, worth about $430,000, from the elderly victim’s apartment, according to authorities.
Brown, 44, was indicted Tuesday on charges of burglary, grand larceny, forgery, securities fraud and scheme to defraud.
She pleaded not guilty.
If Brown is convicted of burglary, the highest charge, she could face up to 15 years in prison, prosecutors said.
The elderly victim and her 56-year-old daughter, who also lives on the Upper East Side, first contacted Brown through her former employer, ITM Trading. The pair had heard about the Phoenix-based company on a radio talk show and wanted to learn more about gold coins, because they were worried about how their annuities and mutual funds would fare in a down economy, prosecutors said.
"They were the perfect victims for this kind of crime because they were fearful [about] the economy," Assistant District Attorney Sarah Sacks said at a Tuesday press conference.
After Brown allegedly stole the most valuable coins from her clients’ collection in April 2010, she left ITM and formed her own company, GBA Gold, to sell them, the DA said.
At Tuesday's indictment, Brown's lawyer requested medical attention for her, as she is remaining in custody. The case will return to court Oct. 16.
The DA believes Brown pulled a similar scheme in California, convincing another elderly victim into buying gold coins and then stealing them back, Sacks said.
"The investigation is ongoing," Sacks said. "We believe we’re going to uncover additional victims."
