Full Notification

Joseph Anthony Florendo Mele, age 30, of Ventura was arrested for grand theft and financial elder abuse. Mele is a Ventura-based insurance agent who, over the course of several months in 2013 and 2014, stole approximately $800,000.00 from a client, a 93-year old Santa Barbara woman.

In October 2014 the Santa Barbara Police Department received a report of suspected financial elder abuse from Santa Barbara County Adult Protective Services. The victim’s bank, Montecito Bank & Trust, had detected suspicious activity in the victim’s account and notified APS. SBPD Property Crimes Detective Kristin Shamordola, with assistance from the California Department of Insurance, investigated the case.

Detective Shamordola’s investigation revealed the following. For several months beginning in late 2013 Mele took pre-signed, blank personal checks from the victim with the promise that he was going to use them to make investments on her behalf. Instead, Mele wrote the checks to himself and deposited the funds into his own personal checking account. Examination of Mele’s bank records showed that he invested nothing on behalf of the victim, but instead used the money for his own personal expenses, entertainment, gambling, and travel.

In late February 2015 Detective Shamordola obtained an $800,000.00 felony arrest warrant for Mele for the crimes of grand theft and financial elder abuse. Officers in Ventura and Santa Barbara made attempts to locate Mele at his home, at the homes of family members, and through his attorney. On June 3, 2015 at 8:30 a.m. SBPD officers arrested Mele at Santa Barbara Superior Court, where he agreed to turn himself in. Mele was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on the aforementioned charges.

Photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.