Sharon Moore, co-owner and chief financial officer, was sentenced in federal court late Monday night to 20 years in federal prison for her role in the 2017 Ayundando Guardians embezzlement scandal. She and three others pled guilty to pocketing $11 million from clients and using that money to pay for Mercedez Benz, Final Four tickets and $4.4 million in American Express charges..

Ayudando’s President Susan Harris and her husband, William Harris, failed to show up for sentencing Monday. Warrants have been issued for them and the judge ordered GPS monitoring of Susan’s son who is still facing charges to ensure he appears.

Ayudando Guardians, Inc. was a non-profit corporation based in Albuquerque, New Mexico that previously provided guardianship, conservatorship, and financial management to hundreds of people with special needs.

In order to conceal the fraud scheme, Moore created and sent forged and fraudulent reports to the Veterans Administration for fiduciary clients. She falsified bank statements and annual reports to disguise the theft of money from client accounts. Susan Harris also took acts to maintain Ayudando’s appearance of legitimacy, including submitting a proposal to the New Mexico Office of Guardianship which contained numerous false representations, including a false claim that another defendant was a nationally certified guardian at the time of the submission.

Information excerpts from Department of Justice – District of New Mexico