A Simi Valley man is accused of stealing nearly $100,000 from a Thousand Oaks man, 89, whom he befriended, according to authorities.
The Ventura County District Attorney's Office has accused the 26-year-old of felony offenses such as theft from an elderly person, grand theft and unauthorized use of personal identifying information, according to an agency news release.
The Simi man pleaded not guilty during a court hearing on Aug. 18, the release says.
In November, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office received a report of the theft, according to a previous news release from the sheriff's office. An investigation found the 26-year-old man, introduced through a mutual contact at a local senior gathering, befriending the 89-year-old man.
When the Simi
man met the 89-year-old at fast food chain McDonald's in Thousand Oaks in June 2024, he allegedly offered to help the older man with technology as he was "proficient" with electronic devices, the DA's office said.
After becoming friends with the Thousand Oaks man, the Simi man began visiting him regularly roughly two to three times a week, the DA's office release says.
The young Simi man allegedly helped the 89-year-old with his phone, including resetting the password for a Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange account, the sheriff's officials previously said.
The Simi man maintained contact with the Thousand Oaks man between June 2024 to September 2025 until the elderly man discovered he was missing a substantial amount of money, officials said. Over some 91 transactions, money had been transferred as cryptocurrency from the 89-year-old's Coinbase account, which was set up to debit directly from a bank account, officials said.
The sheriff's office, in collaboration with the FBI, and other authorities gathered financial records and found that about $100,000 was allegedly stolen and depositing into the Simi man's accounts and cryptocurrency wallets, officials said.
Of that, the Thousand Oaks man's bank was able to recover more than $50,000 once the fraud was detected, the DA's office said.
On Aug. 4, the Simi man was arrested by the sheriff's office on suspected financial elder abuse, grand theft and identity theft, officials said.
The Simi man was released on bail the same day as the arrest and has a Ventura County Superior Court hearing scheduled for Sept. 22, jail records show.
The sheriff's office says it's possible there are more victims and asks anyone with information contact Sr. Deputy Andrew Van Gundy at 805-494-8231.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Simi man accused of stealing $100k in crypto from T.O. man, 89
