A Miami business owner is accused of turning routine paperwork into a small-time title hustle, with investigators saying he spent months using forged documents to shuffle a pickup truck and a 29-foot boat between owners. The alleged bargain resale left one victim thousands of dollars in the hole, and the pickup ultimately turned up in a southwest Miami-Dade Home Depot parking lot, where deputies moved in.
Willy Fernando Perez, 66, was arrested on April 29 at about 3:39 p.m. in the area of 10000 SW 142nd Ave. He faces charges that include an organized scheme to defraud and dealing in stolen property, according to an arrest affidavit. Detectives say Perez met with a witness in March 2025 to arrange a trade involving a 2005 Ford F-250 and a 29-foot boat in exchange for a trailer and cash. Investigators allege he used forged signatures to transfer the titles, then later flipped the truck in February 2026 for $3,000.
During an interview on April 29, investigators say Perez waived his Miranda rights and admitted receiving the $3,000 through Zelle. Deputies seized the truck as stolen property and transported Perez to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He is being held there pending a bond hearing and is not eligible for immediate release, according to WSVN.
Pattern Fits A Wider Auto-Fraud Problem
Law enforcement officials say the alleged playbook here, with forged signatures, quick resales and money routed through third-party payment apps, lines up neatly with broader auto-fraud schemes that have been surfacing across Miami-Dade. Earlier this year, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said it disrupted operations linked to fraudulent tag-agency transfers, and investigators reported uncovering multi-vehicle rings that used straw buyers and title "washing" to move cars and clean up illicit proceeds.
Reporting by Local10 and the National Insurance Crime Bureau details how these kinds of scams can hop from county to county, often faster than victims realize their paperwork is bogus. Officials say Perez’s arrest is folded into ongoing task-force work that targets auto-related fraud.
How Deputies Say They Caught The Truck
According to investigators, Miami-Dade’s real-time crime monitoring system flagged the pickup in a Home Depot lot in southwest Miami-Dade, triggering a coordinated response from aviation and ground units. Deputies moved in, confirmed the truck’s identity and detained the driver on the spot.
The driver turned out to be the son of the alleged victim, authorities say, a twist that helped detectives connect the impounded truck back to the March 2025 trade. The vehicle was towed as stolen property, and investigators say the recovery helped them line up title histories with sworn statements in the arrest affidavit, according to WSVN.
Legal Status
Perez is charged with an organized scheme to defraud and dealing in stolen property, both felony counts that prosecutors say reflect the scope of the alleged scam. He remains locked up at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center while the sheriff’s office continues to comb through paperwork and look into possible co-conspirators. Prosecutors will decide which charges to formally file as investigators keep building the case.
Detectives say the investigation is still active and that more arrests or civil efforts to recover losses could follow as they track title records and money flow. Court filings and Perez’s upcoming bond hearing are expected to shed more light on where the case goes next.
