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Fake attorney stole from McHenry County residents, indictments allege

WOODSTOCK – A man with prior felony charges alleging that he stole thousands of dollars from a marginalized population, is back in McHenry County Jail on new, similar allegations.

Victor M. Moreno, 42, is charged with nine counts of theft and other felonies in six separate bills of indictment from three different communities. He remains in custody in lieu of $400,000 bond.

According to court documents, Moreno falsely represented himself to be an attorney, and offered to help his clients on a host of matters such as immigration cases, mortgage refinancing and real estate taxes. The indictments are based in allegations from Harvard, Woodstock and Crystal Lake.

In total, he's accused of – between October 2012 and Feb. 2013 – stealing upwards of $75,000 from about six alleged victims who each believed that Moreno was a licensed attorney, court documents reveal.

Falsely impersonating an attorney is also a felony, a charge for which Moreno is accused in two instances. The most serious charge against him – financial exploitation of an elderly person because one of the alleged victims was 70 years old – is punishable by three to seven years in prison.

Moreno was charged September 2013, and later posted bond to be released. He was subsequently charged this year with indictments coming out of Harvard.

Last week, McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather increased Moreno's bond in light of DUI and drug charges he picked up in Cook County in February while out on bond for the earlier cases.

His last known address is in Chicago, though previous records indicate he has lived in several locations in Woodstock.