Mother ‘Stole $1.6 Million From a Trust for her Special Needs Daughter’ and Spent it on Luxury Items

Apryll Sardinha of El Paso, Texas has been charged with theft from an at-risk person after allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a trust set up for her daughter. Sardinha was brought to the attention of Adult Protective Services after she was charged with misdemeanor neglect in 2017 when she left her daughter at home without heat so she could travel out of state.

The daughter, 20, was struck by a car in 2005 and has since been unable to communicate and has the mental functionality of a toddler. The settlement of $1.6 million from the accident was placed in a trust, designated to be used solely for the daughter, with Sardinha as the only person with access to the trust. Investigators found that not only was the trust now completely empty, the mother had overdrawn the account by $60.

According to the affidavit presented in court, Sardinha not only used the funds to pay utility bills over the years – totaling nearly $14,000 to DirectTv and over $20,000 to Mountain View Electric, but used the money meant for her special needs to the tune of: $99,000 at a Land Rover dealership, $19,200 at a Mercedes Benz dealership, $18,400 at a Cabo San Lucas resort, $5,000 at a liquor store, and $1,200 at Victoria Secret. The affidavit also alleges that she paid for a breast enhancement out of the trust.

Sardinha was removed as trustee in 2018 and is out on bond and has since moved back to Massachuesettes. 

See Matthew Wright, Mother ‘Stole $1.6 Million From a Trust for her Special Needs Daughter’ and Spent it on Luxury Mexican Holidays, Lingerie from Victoria Secret and a Breast Enlargement, Daily Mail, December 19, 2019.