Defendant in Livermore financial elder abuse case pleads not guilty -- A former bank employee accused of defrauding an elderly Livermore man of $118,000 of his life savings pleaded not guilty Monday to three felony charges of financial elder abuse.
Alejandro "Alex" Ojeda, a 28-year-old Dublin resident and ex-personal banker at a JP Morgan Chase Bank branch in Livermore, is accused of stealing a $105,000 certificate of deposit belonging to his client John "Jack" Magel, by forging Magel's signature on cashier's checks and depositing the money in his mother's bank account. Prosecutors say Ojeda also withdrew more than $13,000 from Magel's account by manually inputting his banking information.
Magel, who intended the money to be passed on to his heirs, died in 2014 from Alzheimer's disease and cancer at the age of 91.
Ojeda will next appear in court for a pre-trial conference on May 5. If attorneys are unable to reach a settlement, the case is scheduled to go to trial on July 13.
Contact Jeremy Thomas at 925-847-2184. Follow him at Twitter.com/jet_bang.