These actions are not just reserved for Arizona Judges, in Michigan Sitting Judge Andrea Bradley-Baskin, Her Father, and Two Accomplices Indicted for Systematically Robbing Helpless, Incapacitated Wards of Hundreds of Thousands of dollars.
In a stomach-turning exposure of corruption at the heart of Michigan’s justice system, a sitting 36th District Court judge, her own father (a practicing attorney), a professional guardian, and a group-home operator stand indicted for running a years-long conspiracy to plunder the estates of vulnerable, incapacitated adults who were legally entrusted to their care.
The four Detroit residents—Judge Andrea Bradley-Baskin, 46; her father, attorney Avery Bradley, 72; guardian agency owner Nancy Williams, 59; and group-home operator Dwight Rashad, 69—face federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, multiple counts of money laundering, wire fraud, and making false statements to investigators.
These individuals occupied positions of ultimate trust.
Probate courts appoint guardians and conservators precisely because the wards—often elderly or severely disabled—cannot protect themselves.
Those fiduciaries swear to act solely in the wards’ best interests.
Instead, this group treated the wards’ money as their personal ATM.
Specific acts laid out in the indictment include:
Judge Bradley-Baskin diverted $70,000 from a ward’s funds to purchase an ownership stake in a local bar for herself.
Bradley-Baskin used embezzled estate money to lease a brand-new Ford Expedition luxury SUV for two years.
Avery Bradley, Nancy Williams, and Dwight Rashad pocketed $203,000 from a ward’s legal settlement, leaving the ward with nothing.
Williams wrote checks to Rashad for “rent” on wards who never lived in any of his facilities—pure profit siphoned from helpless people’s accounts.
Nancy Williams’ agency, Guardian and Associates, had been appointed fiduciary in over 1,000 cases by Wayne County Probate Court.
Guardian and Associates
Avery Bradley and his daughter Andrea operated a law firm that regularly appeared in that same court, representing Williams’ agency.
Bradley-Baskin now sits as a district judge. Rashad ran residential facilities that housed some of the wards.
The betrayal is especially grotesque because it came from the very people society tasks with protecting the most defenseless. A judge—one who wears the black robe symbolizing impartial justice and public trust—participated in robbing those who could not speak or fight for themselves.
Every ruling she has ever issued from the bench must now be viewed through the lens of this revealed moral corruption.
When a judge proves capable of exploiting the helpless for luxury vehicles and bar investments, the public has every reason to question whether justice in her courtroom was ever anything more than a commodity.
U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. stated:
“We respect the authority that covers a black robe.
This state judge and her cronies abused that high honor for personal gain by preying on the needy protected by the court.
This is a grievous abuse of our public trust.”
FBI Detroit Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan added:
“Regardless of a person’s position in society, no one is above the law.
These four defendants conspired to steal from some of our most vulnerable citizens—looting bank accounts, exploiting legal authority, and profiting off those who relied on them for care and protection.
If you prey on the vulnerable, we will find you and bring you to justice.”
IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Karen Wingerd said:
“No matter who you are, or what your position is, it is entirely unacceptable to help yourself to money that is not yours.
What makes these actions so disturbing is that the victims are part of a very vulnerable population and trusted the accused to act in their best interest.”
The case originated from a referral by the Wayne County Probate Court itself and was investigated by the FBI Detroit Area Corruption Task Force and IRS Criminal Investigations.
This indictment serves as a chilling reminder that when those entrusted with safeguarding the helpless instead become their predators—especially when one of them is a sitting judge wearing the symbol of justice—the entire system’s integrity is called into question.
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