A 71-year-old Hollywood man with documented dementia was allegedly relieved of his home, his three vehicles and every other possession he owned, according to police, who say four people are now facing more than a dozen criminal charges in connection with the scheme. Investigators allege the group got the victim to sign over his property, had him moved out of state of mind and out of his own house, then cleaned the place out entirely.
The case came to light after a family member who was worried about the man's mental condition and suspicious about a transfer of his residence called Hollywood Police, according to NBC 6 South Florida. That tip set off an investigation led jointly by Hollywood Police and the Broward County Property Appraiser's Crimes Against Property Unit, which allege the suspects obtained the man's signature on a power of attorney and a warranty deed even though, per investigators, he did not understand what he was signing.
Those documents were allegedly falsely notarized and used to transfer the man's Hollywood home, valued at more than $300,000, to a company controlled by two of the suspects, 25-year-old Brandon Lee Miguel and 25-year-old Jordy Luis Perez. Investigators allege Miguel and Perez also arranged for a third suspect, 56-year-old Monica Elizabeth Castelli, to remove the victim from his own home and relocate him to a rooming house in Miami Gardens.
Entire House Allegedly Cleared Out
Miguel and Perez allegedly entered the property and removed the victim's personal belongings. Among the missing property reported were the victim's three vehicles, according to the same account, leaving him without a home, a car, or his own possessions.
Miguel and Perez each face six charges: organized scheme to defraud $50,000 or more, grand theft exceeding $100,000, unlawful filing of false documents affecting real property, mortgage fraud, exploitation of an elderly person, and money laundering. Castelli faces two counts — kidnapping with intent to facilitate a felony and exploitation of an elderly person — while 43-year-old Derek Enrique was charged with one count of false or fraudulent acknowledgments, the station reports.
How Florida Law Treats Elder Exploitation
Under Florida law, exploitation of an elderly or disabled adult covers knowingly obtaining, using or conspiring to obtain a vulnerable person's funds, assets or property with the intent to deprive them of it, when that person lacks the capacity to consent, according to the Florida Legislature. When the property involved is valued at $50,000 or more, that exploitation becomes a first-degree felony under the same statute.
Florida law also builds in a safeguard for exactly the kind of property transfer alleged in this case: a permissive presumption of exploitation applies to transfers exceeding $10,000 from a person 65 or older to a nonrelative they have known for fewer than two years, when nothing of equivalent value was received in return, per the Florida Legislature. With a home valued well above $300,000 allegedly moved into a company controlled by two of the suspects, that threshold is far exceeded.
All four suspects have been arrested in connection with the alleged scheme, facing a combined total of more than a dozen charges between them.
