Rockville, Md – In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, before the Honorable John Maloney, a jury has found defendant Janey Sears, 72, of Washington D.C., guilty of theft scheme over $100,000, securities fraud, and misappropriation of funds by a fiduciary. The jury returned its verdict on July 7, 2026, after deliberating for 75 minutes following a two-day trial.
Sears, also known as “Janay St. Clair,” and “JaNay St. Clair-Sears,” faces up to 23 years in prison when she is sentenced. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 28, 2026, at 1 p.m.
The charges stem from an investment scheme. Over the span of several years, between 2021 and 2023, the defendant scammed a victim out of $406,954. Sears met the victim, a single federal employee in his 50s, on an online dating site in September of 2019. She presented herself as a Harvard-educated businesswoman who owned a transportation logistics company based in D.C. At the conclusion of their first in-person meeting, Sears suggested that she could stay at the victim’s home in Silver Spring, because it would be convenient for her to get to a business meeting in Baltimore the next morning. She continued to come to his home and eventually suggested it would be more convenient if she moved in with the victim, which he agreed to in November 2019.
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The defendant encouraged the victim to conduct various home improvement projects. In May of 2020, she suggested he could get a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) to finance the ongoing projects. The victim trusted Spears’ purported financial expertise and allowed her to help him secure a $150,000 HELOC loan. Then, in August of 2021, Sears approached the victim about an investment opportunity. She encouraged him to make contributions to an ‘investment pool’ that would purchase Pfizer stock, promising the benefit of making enough money to be “financially independent” and telling him that this type of investment opportunity would normally be available only to wealthy individuals such as herself.
Between August 10, 2021, and May 2, 2023, the victim, at Sears’ urging, continued to make regular monthly contributions via checks, wire transfers, and cash sums that he would hand over to her for the purpose of investing in the “entity.” In reality, Sears deposited all of these funds into her personal accounts. She spent $55,000 on a 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia but told the victim she had received the car from her father. She also gambled away more than $100,000 at casinos, including MGM, MD Live, and Ocean Resort Casino in New Jersey.
Assistant State’s Attorney Hannah Gleason is prosecuting this matter.
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“We are thankful to our Special Prosecutions Unit and the Montgomery County Police Financial Crimes Section for their diligent work in this case,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy. “The defendant groomed the victim, gaining his trust, and deceived him into believing she was acting in his best interest. We are grateful that the jury saw through the defendant’s web of lies and that justice will be served. The State will seek incarceration for this defendant and restitution for the victim at the sentencing hearing.”
Read the original article at mcgov