Russell Manning seems to have been a law-abiding 68-year-old art dealer who found social security not enough to make ends meet. That’s when he seems to have hooked up with an unsavory bunch of young folks, including Kaushal Niroula, a 28-year-old woman who was friends with a group who seem to have killed a Palm Springs retiree. The group looted the missing man’s home and assets. Somehow, Niroula found a way to leave Manning in Mexican jail on drug charges.

Meantime, both Niroula and Manning were free on bail on a separate case of fraud in San Francisco, involving a $400,000 fraudulent art deal with a Silicon Valley resident, when they came to Palm Springs, said Inspector Gregory Ovanessian of the San Francisco Police Department. […]

Manning and Niroula are accused of lying to the Silicon Valley resident about a piece of rare art and its availability, according to the inspector. Ovanessian said Manning sold art for several art galleries in San Francisco before he branched out and began to sell pieces independently.

“In San Francisco, when he was arrested on our case here, he had no priors at all. No history, criminally,” the inspector said.

Art Dealer Accused of Conspiracy Pleads Guilty (KESQ)