Kentucky paralegal allegedly forged name of deceased boss in stealing from his estate
A Kentucky paralegal who allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the estate of her deceased employer has been indicted on wire fraud and other charges in federal court.
A grand jury in Louisville charged Crystal Whitaker, 44, on March 4 but the indictment was not available until this week.
Whitaker, of Somerset, faces eight counts of wire fraud, three counts of tax evasion and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to federal authorities.
The federal indictment does not identify the law firm where Whitaker worked, but a lawsuit in state court says she was a paralegal at the Shelton Law Group in Louisville, headed by John R. Shelton.
A little over two weeks after Shelton died of cancer on March 12, 2020, Whitaker allegedly forged his name on a document at a Central Bank and Trust Co. office that gave her authority to endorse and deposit checks payable to the law firm, according to the lawsuit.
The federal indictment charges that Whitaker withdrew money from the firm’s bank account to buy personal items, deposited checks to the firm into her personal account and used the firm’s debit cards for purchases.
Whitaker also opened a new debit card payable by the firm that listed her as the managing partner, according to the indictment.
The eight wire-fraud charges list a total of about $109,000 that Whitaker allegedly took, but the lawsuit says she stole “hundreds of thousands of dollars” from Shelton’s estate.
Shelton’s widow filed the lawsuit against Central Bank alleging that the Lexington-based bank failed to follow proper procedures to verify Shelton’s signature that Whitaker provided.
The lawsuit alleges negligence and breach of contract by the bank. It seeks an unspecified amount of money.
The bank has denied the allegations in the lawsuit, saying it did not breach any contract with the estate or commit “any sort of failure.”
The tax-evasion charges against Whitaker allege that she tried to evade paying income taxes by signing false returns; claiming only her wages from another employer and from gambling winnings, while not reporting any money “whether legitimate or stolen,” from the law firm; giving false profit and loss statements to the person preparing taxes for Shelton and the law firm; and lying to federal investigators.
Whitaker didn’t file income tax returns at all for 2021 and 2022, federal authorities said.
The most serious charges against Whitaker are punishable by up to 20 years in prison. She has pleaded not guilty.
This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 9:28 AM.
