A Sarasota caregiver and her boyfriend are accused of using a deceased client's credit card in more than 550 transactions totaling over $240,000, while the elderly couple's bank accounts made more than $361,000 in payments to the card company. A jewelry store owner grew suspicious of their repeated big-ticket purchases and called law enforcement. Reinier Reinoso, 42, and Suyeng Daniels-Lopez, 45, now face three first-degree felony charges apiece in connection with the alleged scheme.
The case broke open after Imran Din, owner of A & Z Jewelers, contacted authorities on July 20 about two customers who had been coming back again and again. According to tampafp.com, the pair had visited the store multiple times within a short window, buying more than $40,000 worth of jewelry. When they returned for yet another purchase, Din asked for identification — and neither Reinoso nor Daniels-Lopez could produce valid ID, prompting the store owner to turn them away and call deputies.
That tip led investigators to a credit card that, as it turned out, belonged to a Sarasota man who had died in March 2026, according to snntv.com. Daniels-Lopez had been assigned to care for the man and his wife at an assisted living facility, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, as reported by WFLA.
Hundreds of Transactions Over Three Months
Investigators say the scope of the alleged spending went far beyond the jewelry counter. Between June 2 and August 25, the victim's credit card was used in more than 550 transactions totaling $240,272.85, per the sheriff's office findings reported by tampabay28.com. Over that same stretch, the victims' bank accounts made 21 payments totaling $361,938.23 to the credit card company, the outlet reported.
The card wasn't only used for jewelry. The sheriff's office said it was swiped 35 times at Walmart locations across Sarasota and Manatee counties, where more than $31,000 was spent, with additional transactions turning up at RaceTrac and Home Depot, per the same account relayed by WFLA.
Daniels-Lopez had been assigned to care for the couple from December 2025 through June 2026, according to the seed reporting from WPEC, which also noted the arrests followed a nearly three-month investigation by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.
Felony Charges Filed Against Both Suspects
Reinoso and Daniels-Lopez have each been charged with three first-degree felonies: criminal use of personal identifiable information, exploitation of an elderly person, and grand theft from a person 65 years of age or older, according to WFLA. In total, the two are accused of stealing more than $361,000 from the two victims.
Cases alleging financial exploitation of elderly patients by their own caregivers have surfaced elsewhere in Florida. In Port St. Lucie, social worker Megan Bernat was accused of using an Alzheimer’s patient’s financial information to funnel $68,540 toward her own Capital One credit card through 55 payments from that patient’s account, according to the Miami Herald. Separately, 30 payments totaling $31,295.28 belonged to a different patient, I.R., who had died. Bernat pleaded not guilty to exploitation of an elderly person and money laundering.
