Detroit judge among four charged with exploiting vulnerable adults

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(The Center Square) – Four Michiganders, including a sitting judge, have been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with embezzlement-related charges.

All four are residents of Detroit and allegedly conspired to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from incapacitated individuals.

United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. made the announcement recently, which U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi applauded over the weekend.

“No one is above the law – judges included,” Bondi said. “Using the power of the bench to allegedly take advantage of vulnerable people is a particularly vile crime. Thank you to our great prosecutors in Eastern Michigan.”

Nancy Williams, Avery Bradley, Andrea Bradley-Baskin and Dwight Rashad were all charged in a federal indictment. The indictment came as part of an investigation by the FBI and the IRS.

All were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, while additional charges included:

• One count of wire fraud for Bradley

• Several counts of money laundering for Bradley, Bradley-Baskin, and Rashad

• One county of making a false statement to a federal law enforcement agent for Bradley-Baskin

The charges are all part of a scheme that allegedly went on for years. Bradley-Baskin is currently a district judge on Michigan’s 36th District Court – serving in that role since 2023. She is also the daughter of Bradley, who is an attorney.

Gorgon said the allegations, especially against a sitting judge, should be concerning for the public.

“We respect the authority that covers a black robe,” he said. “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.”

Probate courts regularly appoint guardians and conservators to manage the personal and financial of incapacitated individuals, who are often known as wards. While those guardians and conservators are meant to act in the best interests of their wards, this case shows how that can go wrong.

Williams owned Guardian and Associates, an agency that was appointed as a fiduciary for incapacitated wards in more than 1,000 cases. Bradley and Bradley-Baskin often represented that agency in court, while Rashad operated a series of group homes and residential facilities where wards would sometimes reside.

According to the indictment, the four defendants conspired to systematically embezzle funds from wards. That included obtaining money for themselves from estates, either by misusing funds, taking funds outright, or misappropriating funds for services that were not actually used by the wards.

“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.”