A Malibu woman, Lucinda Jane Weist Manera, pleaded guilty today to a felony charge of being an accessory after the fact, admitting she helped her convicted fraudster boyfriend, Bernhard Eugen Fritsch, evade federal law enforcement and escape incarceration and sentencing in his U.S. criminal case.
Fritsch, 64, was found guilty by a federal jury in April 2025 of wire fraud, having defrauded investors of over $20 million between 2014 and 2017 through a technology company. Manera was present when the verdict was read, and Fritsch subsequently fled the United States to Mexico on June 2, 2025, to avoid being taken into custody.
From June to September 2025, Manera actively assisted Fritsch, lying to FBI agents about their communication and making approximately $7,475 in payments to a third party where he was hiding. She also authorized a $534 hotel charge for him in Mexico and later searched the internet for ways he could travel from Mexico to his native Germany, which generally prohibits the extradition of its citizens.
Fritsch was sentenced in absentia in October 2025 to 15 years in federal prison, fined $35,000, and ordered to pay over $26.8 million in restitution. His appeal was dismissed due to his fugitive status. Manera is scheduled for sentencing on October 5, where she faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for her role in aiding his escape.