Kayla L. Mallory

Woman accused of cheating trustees, spending their money on Maryland gambling trip

A Maryland woman is accused of cheating beneficiaries of a trust and using some of the money to gamble in Hanover, Maryland authorities said Friday.

A federal grand jury returned an eight-count indictment against Kayla Lavonne Mallory on September 2nd charging her with mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

Kayla Mallory, is a professional speech language pathologist who served as a trustee for a family trust that owned a Gaithersburg property, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Maryland. She allegedly was having financial problems at the time and a horrible credit score. When the trust grantor died in 2017, Mallory carried out a scheme in which she sold the property for $300,000, gave the trust beneficiaries $30,000 and spent the rest, the news release said.

Mallory used some of the trust proceeds for a Maryland Live gambling trips, authorities said. She also paid family members in North Carolina and bought merchandise, the news release said. The trust beneficiaries were unaware of the alleged fraud. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service criminal investigators worked on the case, the release said.

Mallory faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of mail fraud and wire fraud counts, the release said. She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the value of the property from the alleged money laundering transactions if convicted of the money laundering counts, authorities said.