Kouri Richins, the 35-year-old Kamas mother accused of fatally poisoning her husband in March 2022 and then writing a children’s book about grief, now faces more than two dozen felony charges for financial crimes in a newly filed case stemming from the broader homicide investigation.
The Summit County Attorney’s Office filed the charges — five counts of mortgage fraud; five counts of forgery; seven counts of issuing a bad check; seven counts of money laundering; one count of communications fraud; and one count of a pattern of unlawful activity — on Friday afternoon, just two days before the statute of limitations was set to expire on some of the accusations.
“This sudden push to file new fraud charges over two years later underscores the weakness of the State’s pending murder charges, since these fraud charges would not even come into play unless they fail to secure a conviction,” defense attorneys Kathy Nester and Wendy Lewis said. “The timing is also extremely troubling in light of the fact that the parties are trying to seat an impartial jury in Summit County.”
The charges are tied to alleged financial schemes dating back to June 2021, which prosecutors say demonstrate a motive for monetary gain and ultimately led to Eric Richins’ death.
Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik ruled in November 2024 to sever two mortgage fraud charges, a second-degree felony, and two forgery charges, a third-degree felony, from the ongoing homicide proceedings, meaning there would be a separate trial.
With a second trial expected, prosecutors opted to file a different case detailing the extent of the alleged financial crimes. They filed 26 charges, including the original mortgage fraud counts and a state-level Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) known as the Utah Pattern of Unlawful Activity Act.
The law defines a pattern of unlawful activity as at least three episodes of illegal conduct that are not isolated but share similar purposes, results, participants, victims, or methods of commission, or are otherwise interrelated by distinguishing characteristics. These episodes must demonstrate continuing unlawful conduct and be related either to each other or to the enterprise, which means an individual, corporation or business trust. The most recent act must have occurred within five years of the previous one.
In this case, the enterprise would be Kouri’s realty business.
Court filings state Kouri met Eric in 2009 while she was working as a cashier at Home Depot. They had a child in 2012 and were married in 2013. At the time, Eric was running a successful stone masonry business and the couple entered into a premarital agreement in which the company would remain his sole property.
Prosecutors alleged Kouri in early 2019 used “a power of attorney to obtain a $250,000 Home Equity Line of Credit” on Eric’s premarital home without his knowledge. A few months later, she formed K. Richins Realty LLC to buy and sell real estate. The proceeds of the Home Equity Line of Credit were used to initially fund her business while hard money loans were used to finance its ongoing operations, according to court documents.
Eric first learned of the revolving line of credit in October 2020, which prosecutors allege was a “source of tension” between the couple. The same month, Eric consulted an estate planning lawyer and informed his lawyer that he wanted to protect himself and his children from any abuse and misuse of his finances.
“The Defendant informed Eric Richins that she would repay the loan and led Eric Richins to believe that she had repaid it. The HELOC was not paid off on the day of Eric Richins’ death,” the filing states.
The following month, Eric executed several estate planning instruments, such as a pour-over will and The Eric Richins Living Trust, that put his sister in charge, transferred his assets to the trust and removed Kouri as the beneficiary of a $500,000 life insurance policy. Kouri was reportedly unaware of the changes until after Eric’s death.
Prosecutors allege that in the five months before Eric died, K. Richins Realty borrowed from over 25 lenders to support itself and serve its debt obligations. The business brought in $170,000 in revenue while its monthly debt service exceeded $250,000, according to court documents.
Kouri is accused of continuing to use hard money loans to purchase three additional properties in November 2021, adding $1.1 million in high-interest debt.
“By that day, she had already defaulted on one loan and was delinquent on several others. She continued efforts to borrow from new high-interest lenders to meet her existing obligations,” court documents state. “By the end of 2021, the Defendant stood on the precipice of total financial collapse.”
In December 2021, Kouri contracted an unfinished mansion in Midway using $2.9 million in high-interest debt due in six months, even though prosecutors said she was unable to service the debt. Kouri was scheduled to close on the property on March 4, 2022, the day of her husband’s death, though she ultimately closed on it the next day.
“On the day of Eric Richins’ death, K. Richins Realty owed hard money lenders at least $1.8 million and the day after Eric Richins’ death it owed them nearly $5 million,” the filing states.
At least three life insurance policies existed on Eric, with aggregate death benefits of $1.3 million naming Kouri as the beneficiary. There was also a fourth $500,000 policy and a fifth policy that paid $168,000 toward the balance of Eric’s mortgage. Court documents allege that Kouri mistakenly believed she was the beneficiary of those policies.
At the time of his death, Eric was worth approximately $5 million.
The County Attorney’s Office accused Kouri of submitting false bank statements to support mortgage loan applications, issuing a series of bad checks and laundering money, fraudulently taking $45,000 from her best friend, submitting a false insurance application on Eric’s life, and attempting to kill Eric for monetary gain and ultimately succeeding.
The County’s Attorney’s Office had to file a new case by Sunday because that’s when the four-year statute of limitations to file criminal charges for felony mortgage fraud and forgery ends.
There is no statute of limitations for aggravated murder or attempted criminal homicide, which Kouri has also been charged with.
Kouri was arrested in May 2023 after prosecutors alleged she killed her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl, and accused her of trying to poison him about a month before his death. Then, Kouri wrote a children’s book featuring Eric and her three sons about coping with grief, which drew widespread attention from Utah-based media. National and international media took interest after she was charged with allegedly orchestrating Eric’s death.
A second-degree felony carries a potential prison sentence of one to 15 years and a fine of up to $10,000. A third-degree felony conviction can result in a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to $5,000.
No trial date has been set in the financial crimes case. It’s possible the litigation may be stayed until after the homicide trial, which is currently scheduled for February 2026.