MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A 65-year-old man is facing charges on Friday for allegedly defrauding a 94-year-old woman out of her home and social security benefits in Miami-Dade County, prosecutors said.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced that a four-month investigation resulted in the arrest of Alejandro F. Diaz Torriente.
“It just breaks your heart to see what people are willing to do to another human being,” Fernandez Rundle said.
The victim purchased the home, valued at about $600,000, over four decades ago in Miami-Dade, according to prosecutors.
Diaz Torriente met the woman in 2020, and after she became incompetent, her neighbor’s daughter became her legal guardian last year, according to Fernandez Rundle.
Diaz Torriente allegedly lied about being the woman’s son. After a visit by The Florida Department of Children and Families in July, Diaz Torriente moved into the woman’s home and changed the locks, according to prosecutors.
Investigators found he had stolen nearly $20,000 in social security benefits and earlier this year filed a fraudulent title to add himself as a joint tenant with a right of survivorship to her home, according to Fernandez Rundle.
Diaz Torriente is facing charges of an organized scheme to defraud, first-degree exploitation of an elderly person, second-degree exploitation of an elderly person, and grand theft of a person over 65.
Fernandez Rundle asked anyone with information about elderly abuse and exploitation cases in Miami-Dade to call the county’s task force at 786-804-6723.
This is a developing story. Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Wilson Louis contributed to this report.