A hairstylist/yoga instructor and an actress/yoga instructor out of Fresno were arrested last week on accusations that they befriended a wealthy Malibu eye doctor with mental health issues, moved into his house, and took him for millions after dosing him with LSD, according to federal prosecutors.
A grand jury indicted Anthony David Flores (a.k.a Anton David), 46, and Anna Rene Moore, 39, on 12 charges last week, including wire fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.
Flores was arrested in Fresno and has pleaded not guilty. Moore, who once owned a yoga studio in Fresno and currently resides in Monterrey, Mexico, was arrested in Houston. The pair were previously “Studio Directors” at the Fulton Yoga Collective, which offered “Health & Wellness. Local Organic Green Juice. Vinyasa Yoga.” It’s unclear the studio still exists. Flores and Moore are expected to appear in federal court in L.A. in coming weeks.
The two allegedly schmoozed their way into the graces of Dr. Mark Sawusch, an eye surgeon and investor, at an ice cream shop in Venice in 2017, the Los Angeles Times reports.
“Within days of meeting the victim, Flores and Moore moved into the victim’s beachfront Malibu home—rent free—and slowly took control of his life by pretending to be his new “best friends” and caregivers,” the Department of Justice said
Sawusch had suffered from bipolar disorder and, according to his mother, his mental health had deteriorated prior to meeting Flores and Moore. In November 2016, Sawusch was unable to continue performing surgery after he burned his hands; from 2015 to 2017 he voluntarily hospitalized himself, according to the Times.
In September 2017, after Sawusch had a mental breakdown and was arrested, prosecutors say the duo swooped in and offered him support, convincing him to sign over power of attorney so they could access his finances and post bail.
Prosectors say Flores then began opening bank accounts in Sawusch’s name and “diverted the victim’s funds to their own bank accounts” while he and Moore attempted to isolate Sawuch from his relatives.
At one point, while texting Sawusch’s mother, Flores told her not to contact her son, according to the Times. “I have given you clear instructions how best to serve your sons wishes,” Flores wrote. “[S]ilence is golden.”
Prosecutors also alleged that Flores and Moore provided Sawusch with marijuana and LSD and that while he was under the influence of LSD, Flores changed the login security feature to his brokerage account, valued at $60 million.
Just four days before Sawusch died in May 2018, Flores allegedly transferred $2 million into two different bank accounts under his control—all while Sawusch was under the influence of LSD.
Even after Sawusch was somehow able to evict the pair, prosecutors say Flores and Moore sat and watched him deteriorate via video cameras in his Malibu home from a luxury hotel they had paid for with his money. After Sawuch died, they allegedly moved back into his house and continued to withdraw “large sums of money from his accounts.”
After his death, Sawusch’s mother, who lives in Florida, filed a lawsuit in L.A. to recover the money from the estate. The suit was settled, prosecutors said, and Flores and Moore agreed to pay $1 million but have not done so.
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