HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Detectives have two of the three suspects wanted in a case of real estate fraud in Homestead, police said on Friday.
Detectives accused Priscilla Contreras of pretending to be a real estate broker, and Yordani Carriles and Deinoser Bravo of posing as property owners and landlords.
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Contreras, 32, was really a tenant who was fighting eviction. She illegally listed vacant properties on Facebook Marketplace for rent, according to the Homestead Police Department.
“I am trying to look for a place where I could bring my baby when I give birth,” said Maria Urra, who is pregnant and told police she gave the fraudsters all of her savings.
Capt. Fernando Morales, a spokesman for the department, reported Carriles, 43, and Contreras were behind bars. Bravo, 47, is still on the run and authorities are asking the public for help finding him.
Contreras surrendered to the police on Saturday. Officers booked her on March 6 and she remained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Friday.
Detectives tracked Carriles to a hotel in Kissimmee, and Osceola County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested him on Friday. He is awaiting extradition to Miami-Dade County.
Contreras is facing two counts of grand theft, two counts of organized scheme to defraud, two counts of acting as a real estate broker without a license, and eight counts of unlawful use of a communications device.
Carriles is likely to appear in court on Monday to face charges in Miami-Dade County.
Morales is asking anyone with information about Bravo’s whereabouts to call the Homestead Police Department at 305-247-1535 or Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.