Laguna woman accused of making friends of clients and then stealing $1.5 million from them pleads guilty to fraud

A Laguna Beach woman who authorities say befriended small-business owners and then stole more than $1.5 million from them over seven years is facing up to 23 years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud.

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Mulder, 34, pleaded guilty May 15 to wire fraud and subscribing to a false tax return, both felonies, as part of a deal with federal prosecutors in exchange for a potentially reduced prison sentence, according to court documents.

Mulder is expected to be sentenced in federal court Oct. 16.

Her attorney, Kate Corrigan, did not return a call seeking comment June 8.

According to authorities, Mulder devised a scheme in which she gained the trust of local small-business owners, agreed to act as their accountant and then embezzled money from them between July 2009 and May 2016.

Mulder told the business owners she was an accountant and president of Mulder Financial Consulting, authorities said. Actually, however, she was a saleswoman for a soil and fertilizer company, Laguna Beach police said.

Police alleged Mulder deceived clients into making checks payable to a phony business she created called Income Tax Payments under the guise that those payments would satisfy the clients’ outstanding federal tax obligations.

Mulder became the subject of a police fraud investigation in January 2016 after the owner of JAC Wines in Laguna Beach told police that he suspected his accountant had stolen $200,000 from him.

During the 18-month investigation, police identified five other businesses that Mulder is believed to have embezzled from — Toni & Guy Hair Salon in Newport Beach, the Kurtz-Ahlers travel agency in San Juan Capistrano, Bella Pilates in San Clemente, Andra Builders Inc. in Costa Mesa and California Print 2 Copy in Irvine.

According to police, Mulder used the money for personal expenses including a luxury rental home overlooking the beach in Laguna, cosmetic surgery, vacations, horse rentals and horse equipment.

Mulder also was accused of filing tax returns from 2011 to 2016 that did not show the true amount of her income for those years, according to court documents.

Laguna Beach police Det. Jordan Mirakian, who investigated the case, said one of the most troubling aspects of the situation was how Mulder got people to trust her before she betrayed them. Mulder frequently would attend the business owners’ weddings, holidays and parties.

“I think the biggest problem I have is that Lizzie not only stole money from these people but she became ingrained in their lives,” Mirakian said. “Through charisma and gaining their trust, she became part of their family.”

“It’s one thing to steal from people, but it’s another thing to steal from them when you’re having a glass of wine with them over Thanksgiving dinner,” he added.

During a search of Mulder’s home, police found an app on her phone that she could use to disguise her voice, Mirakian said. Police and business owners suspect she used the software to call the victims pretending to be other people in an effort to cover her tracks.

“As long as her mouth was moving, she was lying,” Mirakian said.

Lauren Scaccia, one of the owners of the Toni & Guy salon, said she was surprised when she received a notice that she had a large workers’ compensation insurance bill from 2015 that was past due.

She said she discussed it with Mulder, who was acting as her accountant, and that Mulder said it was being handled. Soon after, Scaccia received a call from a woman who said she was from the company that handled the salon’s workers’ compensation insurance. The woman said her account was in good standing.

But the woman said something that struck Scaccia as eerily familiar: “You’re totally fine.” It was a phrase Mulder often would use to calm her nerves, Scaccia said.

Suspicious, Scaccia called the number back. It routed her to the insurance company handling her account.

Scaccia believes Mulder stole the money that was to be used to pay the bill.

A few weeks after the suspicious conversation, Scaccia received a call from Mulder’s husband, who said he suspected his wife was stealing.

“She went after friends and family, people that trusted her, people who wouldn’t question her credentials,” Scaccia said. “The whole thing is just madness. It’s disgusting. What she’s done to us on so many levels we will suffer from for years to come.”

Scaccia and Mulder attended high school together and reconnected at a friend’s wedding in Italy in 2010. The two became close friends.

“She has painted herself into so many of our memories. There she was in photos of my bridal shower,” Scaccia said. “Every picture of me walking down the aisle at my wedding, she’s right there. She made sure she was positioned in our lives in every aspect.”

When Scaccia and her business partner wanted to open a Toni & Guy salon in 2015 but were having trouble finding an accountant, Scaccia went to Mulder for advice.

She said Mulder agreed to help establish and ultimately manage the business’ accounts.

“We believed wholeheartedly that she was who she said she was,” Scaccia said. “To find out that she didn’t have credentials from anywhere and is 100% a fraud, it’s still hard for me to wrap my head around.”

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN

UPDATES:

June 13, 11:50 a.m.: This article was updated with a new sentencing date of Oct. 16.

This article was originally published June 8 at 6:20 p.m.