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Cenia Poulsen (LVMPD)
A 36-year-old woman in Las Vegas has been arrested for allegedly spending two years fraudulently posing as an attorney in the state of Nevada where she took money from “clients” to perform several legal actions on their behalf. Cenia Poulsen was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with a series of felonies, including one count each of forgery, theft, prepare/deliver to person simulated legal document, and offering false instrument for public office filing, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, Poulsen is not and never has been an attorney registered with the Nevada State Bar.
“Through the course of the investigation, detectives believe Poulsen portrayed herself as an attorney since January 2022 and accepted money to ‘file documents’ through the court systems,” police wrote in the release. “These services included divorces, legal reviews/insights, name changes and adoptions defrauding multiple victims.”
Detectives said they also learned that Poulsen worked under false names that included Cenia Del Pozo and Cenia Carillo.
Arrest records obtained by Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS provided additional details about the allegations against Poulson.
According to the report, investigators believe Poulson has been fraudulently posing as an attorney since at least January 2022.
Poulson once allegedly drew up fraudulent divorce papers that caused a couple to believe that had legally divorced after paying her close to $1,500 in legal fees. However, it was later revealed that Poulson had actually forged the judge’s signature, per court documents obtained by KLAS.
When contacted by one of the parties from the divorcing couple about obtaining a copy of one of the documents, Poulsen reportedly appeared irritated, responding that she had been “doing this for 16 years.” When one of the parties attempted to inquire as to why their name change had not gone through, Poulsen reportedly tried to lay the blame on the judge the case had allegedly been reassigned to having “kill[ed] herself 2-3 weeks ago.”
Poulson also allegedly convinced a woman she worked with to loan her more than $15,000, claiming that she needed the funds to pay for medical expenses because her father had fallen ill. Per the report, Poulson used those funds to go on vacation in California with her husband and some of her friends.
Other alleged acts include Poulson taking hundreds in legal fees to review documents, submitting fraudulent adoption papers in court, and falsely holding herself out to be a notary public.
When interviewed by police, the woman accused of falsely holding herself out to be an attorney refused to have an attorney present to represent her, per KLAS.
Authorities are urging anyone who may have had legal work done by Poulson to call (702) 828-3251.
