Date: March 19, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Martinsburg, WV — A Spring Hill, Florida, woman has pled guilty to defrauding a Berkeley County man who suffered from dementia. Wendy Renee Bunner pled guilty on Monday to one count of money laundering. According to court documents and statements made in court, Wendy Bunner conspired with her husband to obtain a $280,318.73 cashier’s check from a United Bank account belonging to the elderly victim to purchase real estate in Charles Town, West Virginia. Samuel Bunner, husband of Wendy Bunner, previously pled guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. According to court documents, Samuel Bunner defrauded the same victim of $1,906,229 by selling his real estate, emptying his investment and bank accounts, and opening a credit card in his name. Together, the Bunners used the money taken from the victim for their own personal benefit and purchased homes, campers, cars, and hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of consumer goods. “The Bunners took advantage of a vulnerable victim to fund a lifestyle that they otherwise could not have afforded,” said United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to pursue those who prey upon the elderly to ensure that there is accountability when this type of conduct occurs.” Samual Bunner faces up to thirty (30) years in prison and Wendy Bunner faces up to ten (10) years in prison. Sentencing hearings for each will take place later this year. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eleanor Hurney is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (CI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Florida, and FBI-Tampa assisted with the matter. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided. CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
