MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Miami Beach police arrested a woman early Monday morning on accusations that she stole more than $10,000 from an 86-year-old woman.
Maria Milagros May, 49, of Miami Beach, faces charges of organized scheme to defraud, exploitation of an elderly victim, illegally obtaining a credit card, grand theft and unlawful possession of a stolen credit or debit card.
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According to her arrest report, May befriended the victim, who has no family members living in the U.S., about two years ago.
Police said May began visiting the victim at her Miami Beach apartment daily and would help her with things around the house, like picking up her mail.
But the victim told police that she eventually noticed that her credit cards were missing and she had a lot of unauthorized charges on her account.
The victim said she eventually confided in a friend that she had requested new debit and credit cards, but the unauthorized charges continued, and she suspected May was behind it, leaving her with barely any money in her account.
The victim said she was in fear of May, who she described as “manipulative” and said she no longer wanted her to come to her home.
The friend then took the victim to the Miami Beach police station to file a police report.
According to the arrest report, detectives discovered that May had called Citibank and changed the phone number associated with the victim’s account to her personal cellphone. Police said she also requested a new PIN, gained access to the victim’s accounts to view online and also requested that no mail or statements be sent to the victim’s apartment.
Police said they also discovered that May had withdrawn about $10,460 from the victim’s account, spent over $1,800 on Amazon purchases and used the victim’s money to pay for a storage unit, her car insurance and her cellphone bill.
May was taken into custody Sunday night and told detectives that the victim allowed her to use her credit card to make purchases on Amazon and to withdraw money from the ATM, the report stated.
May was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center around 1:20 a.m. Monday where she is being held in lieu of a $27,500 bond.