MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Believing he was a contractor, three victims — two of whom were seniors — paid a Palmetto Bay man thousands of dollars to install new fences at their homes, according to Miami-Dade police.
But authorities say Omar Ramiro Lopez, 61, never pulled permits, never did the work and wasn’t even a licensed contractor. On Wednesday, he became an accused felon.
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Police said the victims, who lived in Cutler Bay and unincorporated Miami-Dade County, entered into contracts with Lopez, doing business as “Horizon Structural Developers,” in May.
After taking nearly $14,000 in total from the three victims, Lopez never did any work, authorities allege. None of them, they said, ever got their money back.
Police said an investigation revealed that “Horizon Structural Developers” was on shaky ground. Lopez, they said, wasn’t in the state’s contractor licensing system and was instead using another contractor’s license information without permission.
Lopez’s arrest reports list his occupation as “Uber.”
Miami Shores police took Lopez into custody at the Miami Shores Aquatic Center at 12000 Biscayne Blvd. Wednesday evening, the reports state.
The Venezuelan national was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a host of felony charges, including organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, theft from an elderly person and elderly exploitation.
He’s also facing misdemeanor charges of contracting without a license.
Lopez was being held in TGK on a $7,252 bond, according to jail records.