Four Detroit-area residents, including a sitting judge and a local attorney, were charged for their roles in a years-long scheme to embezzle money from incapacitated individuals.
Nancy Williams, 59; Avery Bradley, 72; Andrea Bradley-Baskin, 46; and Dwight Rashad, 69, all Detroit residents, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The indictment also charges Bradley with one count of wire fraud, Bradley, Bradley-Baskin, and Rashad with several counts of money laundering, and Bradley-Baskin with a single count of making a false statement to fa ederal law enforcement agent.
Probate courts regularly appoint guardians and conservators to manage the personal and financial affairs of adults, known as wards, who have been found by the court to lack the capacity to manage their own affairs.
Guardians and conservators are fiduciaries who are obligated to act in the best interests of their wards. The indictment alleges that Nancy Williams owned Guardian and Associates, an agency that was appointed as a fiduciary by the Wayne County Probate Court for incapacitated wards in over 1,000 cases. Avery Bradley is an attorney who, along with his daughter (and fellow attorney) Andrea Bradley-Baskin, operated a law firm that often represented Guardian and Associates in Wayne County Probate Court and regularly practiced there.
The indictment alleges that the four defendants conspired to systematically embezzle funds from wards and to obtain and retain money that rightly belonged to the wards and their estates.
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“We respect the authority that covers a black robe. This state judge and her cronies allegedly abused that high honor for personal gain by preying on the needy protected by the court. This would be a grievous abuse of our public trust,” said U.S. Attorney Gorgon.
Bradley-Baskin is currently a district judge on Michigan’s 36th District Court. Dwight Rashad operated a series of group homes and residential facilities for elderly individuals, including wards, who needed support and care.
“Regardless of a person’s position in society, no one is above the law. These four defendants allegedly conspired to steal from some of our most vulnerable citizens — looting bank accounts, exploiting legal authority, and profiting off those who relied on them for care and protection," said Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. "Let me be clear: if you prey on the vulnerable, we will find you and bring you to justice. Finally, I want to recognize our FBI Detroit Area Corruption Task Force, alongside our partners at the IRS Criminal Investigations Detroit Field Office, for their dedicated work on behalf of these victims, as well as the Wayne County Probate Court for bringing this matter to our attention and assisting the investigation."
The indictment sets forth numerous examples of the co-conspirators working together to misappropriate money belonging to wards. In one instance, Bradley-Baskin is alleged to have used $70,000 in a ward’s funds to purchase an ownership stake in a local bar.
In another example, Bradley, Williams, and Rashad are alleged to have taken for themselves some $203,000 from a ward’s legal settlement, with none of the funds used to benefit the ward. Williams is alleged to have paid Rashad rent for wards who did not live in one of Rashad’s homes.
Bradley-Baskin, in yet another case, is alleged to have used money embezzled from the estate of a ward to pay for a two-year lease on a new Ford Expedition for herself.
“No matter who you are, or what your position is, it is entirely unacceptable to help yourself to money that is not yours. What makes these allegations so disturbing is that the victims are part of very vulnerable population and trusted the accused to act in their best interest,” said Karen Wingerd, Special Agent in Charge, Detroit Field Office, IRS Criminal Investigation. “IRS-CI is proud to work alongside our law enforcement partners to protect the financial well-being of the vulnerable and root out those who threaten their security.”
If you have information concerning a ward of Guardian & Associates or Tri-State Guardian Services, please visit the FBI website at
— Seeking Information Concerning Wards of Guardian & Associates and Tri-State Guardian Services
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert A. Moran and John Neal.
Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Detroit Field Office, and Karen Wingerd, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations Detroit Field Office.
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