Police: Seattle con artists scammed widower

Seattle conwoman Yana Ristick, pictured in a Department of Corrections photo. Seattle conwoman Yana Ristick, pictured in a Department of Corrections photo. Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Police: Seattle con artists scammed widower 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Two con artists recently sentenced to prison for swindling elderly Seattle-area men are back at it, King County prosecutors claim.

Filing charges earlier this month, prosecutors contend Yana T. Ristick and Michael J. Evans returned to fraud just months after they were released from state prison, where they’d been serving time for a swindle similar to the one with which both are now accused.

Prosecutors claim Ristick stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from a recently widowed Seattle man, while Evans stole the man’s car and sold it to an unsuspecting buyer.

Searching their home on June 29, investigators recovered dozens of valuable items, including a full-length fur coat, high-end suits and shoes, Tiffany crystal and numerous products made by Coach and Louis Vuitton, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Page Ulrey told the court. A BMW and a Porsche were parked in the home’s driveway.

The alleged victim in the current case is a 79-year-old widower who lost his wife two months before meeting Evans and Ristick.

Writing the court, Seattle Police Det. Pamela St. John said the Seattle man posted a "for sale" sign in his late wife’s car, which was parked in front of his home. Playing the part of a buyer, Evans approached the man and offered to buy the $3,800 car in installments.

Days later, Evans returned with Ristick, whom he introduced as his cousin. According to charging documents, Ristick, in the days and weeks that followed, began asking the man for money.

Recounting the man’s statement to police, St. John said Ristick claimed to be interested in buying a catering company. Ristick refused to give the man basic information about the business and wouldn’t tell him her real name. Still, St. John said, the man ultimately loaned Ristick $190,000 for a company that did not exist.

Beyond the loan, the man bought Ristick household items at Sam’s Club and gave her $85,000 to host an event, the detective continued.

As that fraud was ongoing, Evans attempted to sell the car he’d stolen from the man, according to charging documents. Evans sold the car for $4,700; the car’s new owner only later learned it had been stolen.

The new allegations closely follow those previously made against the pair in 2008.

Following that prosecution, Evans was convicted of five felony counts related to the swindles and sentenced to 3½ years in prison. Ristick was convicted on 10 similar counts and sentenced just more than four years in prison.

In those cases, the pair was accused of seeking out elderly men at King County shopping centers and defrauding them.

“In each case, Ristick would approach the victim in the grocery store where he was shopping alone, pretend that she knew him, and quickly develop a relationship with him,” Ulrey told the court. “She would then proceed to financially exploit each victim.”

In one case, Evans drove Ristick and their victim to Nevada, where Ristick married the man. They still own their victims $67,100.

Ulrey noted that Evans fled the state after charges were filed against him in 2008. He was arrested in New York and extradited.

Both defendants are currently jailed on $500,000 bail. Evans has been charged with car theft and trafficking stolen property, while Ristick has been charged with five counts of first-degree theft and three counts of second-degree theft. Neither has yet entered a plea.

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Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.