Gettysburg attorney charged in $3M fraud case [The York Dispatch, Pa.]

Nov. 04--The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has reached a tentative plea agreement with Gettysburg attorney Wendy Weikal-Beauchat, accused of misappropriating more than $3 million in client funds.

The office on Monday announced the filing in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, charging Weikal-Beauchat, 46, with wire fraud and money laundering.

According to U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith, Beauchat is charged with defrauding eight clients of more than $3 million during from 2007 through 2013, using the money for her business and personal expenses.

She was a member of a law firm located in Gettysburg until February 2012. According to the law firm website, Beauchat's area of concentration was estate planning and long-term care planning.

She's accused of providing clients with bogus Certificates of Deposit and IRS 1099 Interest Forms, and investigators are still trying to identify other clients who may have been victimized. The investigation is being conducted by the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI.

U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Heidi Havens said Weikal-Beauchat has agreed to plead guilty, but she has not yet signed the agreement. The agreement must be accepted by the court, but a hearing has not yet been set.

A sentence would be imposed after those proceedings.

The maximum penalty under the federal statute is 30 years' imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, a forfeiture and a fine.

Beauchat's attorney, Joseph Sembrot, said the plea agreement doesn't specify a sentence.

He declined to comment on the terms of the agreement until it's accepted by the court.

"What people can take from this is that Wendy is going to take responsibility for her actions," he said. "I can tell you that."

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