Caretaker Accused of Taking Almost $1 Million From Senior Couple Arrested

A caretaker accused of stealing nearly $1 million from an elderly Mission Viejo couple, and leaving the husband in a soiled diaper amid a feces-strewn home after his wife's death, is a "one-man crime wave" who also allegedly led police on a chase and faces identity theft and drug charges, a prosecutor said Friday.

Ignacio Conlu Barandiaran, 35, of Long Beach pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 16 felony counts of caretaker theft from an elder 65 or older and single counts of first-degree burglary and elder neglect, with sentence enhancement allegations of property damage exceeding $65,000 and aggravated white-collar crime surpassing $100,000.

Four more cases are also pending against Barandiaran, who's accused of driving on a suspended license, possession of marijuana, possession of controlled substances and leading police on a June 25 chase that also resulted in charges of identity theft and hit-and-run with property damage.

"He's been extremely busy," said Senior Deputy District Attorney Marc Labreche. "He's been a one-man crime wave."

At the time he was involved in the police pursuit, there were outstanding warrants for his arrest when he failed to appear in court on his other cases, Labreche said.

When asked for comment, defense attorney Kate Corrigan said, "We will be vigorously defending the charges."

Barandiaran began working for a couple in their 80s in December 2015, Labreche said. The wife died last year and the man, who was 88 and suffered from dementia, died this summer, the prosecutor said.

Barandiaran cleared out the couple's bank accounts, used their credit cards and spent the money on drugs, food and other personal items for himself, Labreche alleged.

The defendant had the husband transfer trusteeship to him, and then cashed in on a reverse mortgage and tried to sell the house from under him, the prosecutor alleged.

"He had absolutely no capacity to make those decisions," Labreche said. "There were methamphetamine users going in and out of there, (the husband) was in a soiled diaper and the house was completely trashed with feces on the floor from dogs."

The Orange County Public Guardian got involved and took control of the estate, Labreche said, adding that the male victim's adult daughter from a prior marriage, from whom he had been estranged, got "back in the picture" recently.

The alleged thefts were brought to light by alert bank officials who thought the transactions on the victim's account looked suspicious, Labreche said.