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The Iowa Board of Nursing will consider next month whether to award a license to a Scott County woman convicted of bilking dozens of people out of $2.9 million in a precious-metals scheme.
In November 2020, a federal grand jury indicted Chelsea Gless, then 31, of Princeton, Iowa, on multiple counts of mail fraud. Prosecutors alleged Gless, as part-owner and manager of Royal Metals Group, offered prospective clients an opportunity to purchase and sell precious metals, such as gold and silver, through the company for an agreed-upon fee.
Between May 2014 and February 2018, according to court documents, Gless allegedly devised and carried out a scheme to defraud those clients, in part by using their money to make personal credit card payments. When clients inquired as to the status of payments they were owed, or the delivery of precious metals they had purchased, Gless allegedly sent them falsified tracking numbers for deliveries, sent them unsigned checks or checks made out for the wrong amount, or sent them checks that later bounced due to insufficient funds, court records show.
At least 71 clients were defrauded a total of more than $2.9 million, prosecutors claimed. As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, Gless pleaded guilty to one count of felony mail fraud, punishable by up to 20 years of imprisonment, and six other charges were dropped.
Prior to Gless’ sentencing in 2022, Assistant United States Attorney Rachel J. Scherle told the court her conduct was “financially and emotionally devastating” to the victims.
“Chelsea Gless was running the business and she was in charge,” Scherle said. “Chelsea Gless had the power to stop the manipulation, but she continued to lie and lie over and over again until there were no more metals or money – leaving the victims high and dry.”
Court records indicate one of Gless’ victims was an elderly widow who lost $34,000 in the scheme as she prepared to move to an assisted living facility. Another widow lost $18,000 and told prosecutors, “$18,000 may not sound like a lot of money to some people. But for a widow on a fixed income with several health issues it is a lot.”
A third individual lost their entire retirement savings of $260,326, telling prosecutors, “I am a very quiet, non-confrontational person. Just the thought of contacting the FBI was so stressful to me that my daughter had to step in and do the contact for me.”
Gless’ attorneys characterized her as a pawn in the business which was initiated by her husband, Richard Gless, who was 20 years older than Chelsea. Richard Gless died in 2012, before the alleged fraud occurred.
Chelsea Gless was sentenced to three years in prison, plus three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,935,906 in restitution.
Shortly after her sentencing, Gless sought a delay in her scheduled incarceration date of Feb. 10, 2022, telling the court she “would like to make an egg donation in relation to her surrogacy business and the anticipated egg retrieval date is February 23.” Gless’ request was denied.
Gless was released from prison in November 2023, and in 2024 was awarded an associate’s degree in nursing from Scott Community College, with plans to work as a labor and delivery nurse.
In October 2024, she applied for an Iowa registered nurse’s license and was denied on the basis of her felony conviction. She appealed that decision and requested a hearing that is now scheduled for April 10, 2025.
Court records indicate that as of January 2025, Gless had paid $14,201 toward restitution, leaving $2,921,391 still owed. She remains on supervised release.