Mikayla Zeigler and Danielle King Arrested For Stealing $450K From Doctor, Police Say

22-year-old Mikayla Zeigler and 25-year-old Danielle King have been detained in connection with thefts totaling more than $450,000 from a doctor in West Chester between October 2020 and August 2021, according to the Chester County District Attorney’s Office.

They are also accused of attempting to sell the doctor’s property worth more than $1 million without his consent. The co-defendants were accused of forgery, identity theft, dealing in illegal proceeds, conspiracy, theft by unlawful taking, and other offenses.

Further allegations against defendant Zeigler include stealing over $7,000 from a different employee at the doctor’s office between April 9, 2021, and August 4, 2021.

DA Deb Ryan said, “These women engaged in a cunning scheme to steal from their boss and spent it lavishly on themselves. They used the money to pay their rent, student loans, and credit card debt, as well as to purchase cars, cosmetics, tattoos, and vacations. They had the audacity to forge the doctor’s signature and try to sell over $1 million in real estate and change his will. Their greed is a cautionary tale to remind the community to put financial safeguards in place to prevent fraud and theft.”

Dr. Ramarao Naidu notified Chester County Detectives on September 23, 2021, that he had discovered a sizable sum of money had been stolen from numerous bank and credit card accounts in his name as well as the names of his two companies, Global Doctors and JVM Associates.

Mikayla Zeigler and Danielle King, two of his former employees, were named as potential suspects. They both worked for the victim between October 2020 and August 2021. Zeigler and King were given charge of managing day-to-day business operations while they were employed, and they persuaded the victim to start using an electronic banking system to improve efficiency. This gave them access to the victim’s and his businesses’ bank accounts.

Zeigler and King both held jobs that gave them access to checks, debit cards, account numbers, and credit cards, among other banking and personal information. Additionally, Zeigler and King monitored and gathered any incoming bank statements and subsequent purchase records. Both co-defendants abruptly quit their jobs working for the victim on August 25, 2021.

Detectives conducted an investigation and found that the victim’s six credit card accounts and four bank accounts had a combined $451,431.11 stolen from them.

From January 22, 2021, to September 16, 2021, the defendants made 80 unauthorized withdrawals from four of his bank accounts, totaling a theft of $256,950.88. These funds were transferred to the personal bank accounts, Applecard, PayPal, and car and student loan payment accounts of Zeigler and King.

Zeigler reportedly stole $108,302 between January 11 and August 23 of the following year and sent the money to their boyfriends and families. In addition, they spent $68,517.59 on visits to tanning booths, medical expenses, veterinary costs, hair care, tattoos, vacations to Wildwood and Avalon, New Jersey, cash advances, furniture, travel expenses, Amazon purchases, PayPal purchases, and other small-ticket items.

Detectives discovered a pattern in which Ziegler sent money to King’s account as well as her boyfriend’s from her PayPal account to launder the funds. Ziegler transferred funds from the doctor’s American Express account to her personal PayPal account, where she then forwarded them to the PayPal account of her boyfriend. After that, her boyfriend immediately transferred the same amount of money back to Zeigler’s account. His account was used to launder back more than $19,000.

Detectives discovered a pattern in which Zeigler would transfer significant sums of money from the victim’s credit card accounts to King’s personal PayPal account, then transfer the money back to King’s personal PayPal account. Zeigler used over $11,800.00 in stolen money to cover her rent at the Ashbridge Apartments in Exton.

Detectives also learned that the two defendants discussed selling the doctor’s property with a real estate agent. Both defendants made repeated attempts to sell two lots on the doctor’s property in East Bradford Township, Chester County, by getting in touch with She Moves Philly/Keller Williams Philadelphia, Realtor Company in June 2021.

All significant documents were signed and sent via a DocuSign program by the defendants. The values of the lots were assessed, but the realtor never spoke with the victim. For a total of 29 days, the properties were up for sale, with one lot going for $535,000 and the other for $500,000.

Shortly after the realtor received a call from the victim’s family, the properties were taken off the listings. The sale of the property would have resulted in a $1,035,000 loss for the victim.

The victim’s attorneys received an email on May 27, 2021, purporting to be from the victim, requesting a change to his will. The request was to change his estate plan so that less of his estate would go to his family after his death, but Zeigler would have 85% of the estate’s remaining assets instead. The victim informed the investigators that Zeigler was not listed as a beneficiary and that the estate plan changes in the email were inaccurate.

Magisterial District Judge Mark Lieberman presided over the defendants’ arraignment, and bail was set at $100,000 cash, unsecured. On June 2, 2023, a preliminary hearing will take place. Detectives from Chester County are looking into it. William Judge, a deputy district attorney, is the designated prosecutor.

Call Chester County Detectives at 610-344-6866 if you have any information regarding this case.

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Quincy Thomas

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