BEL AIR, Md. — The convicted mastermind of a ponzi scheme learned her fate in a Maryland court room this week.
Sarah Chester, 44 of Nottingham, will serve five-years of a 20-year sentence behind bars.
As the owner of Magnolia Properties, Chester swindled several Homeowners Associations (HOAs) in Harford and Baltimore Counties out of hundreds-of-thousands of dollars between the years of 2021 and 2025.
About 1,500 people and 250 households were impacted.
Chester was hired to manage the HOA funds.
Instead she transferred the money to her personal bank accounts and spent in on trips to Europe and country club memberships.
Then she tried replenishing some HOA accounts with funds from others to conceal the theft.
As part of her sentence, Chester will have to pay approximately $600,000 in restitution.
