MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A Kissimmee woman accused of targeting elderly victims with a jewelry-cleaning scam is back behind bars after being linked to yet another theft in Miami-Dade County, authorities confirmed in an arrest report obtained by Local 10 News on Tuesday.
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Katherine Coromoto Angulo Rivera, 27, was arrested Monday after deputies with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said a 70-year-old victim recognized her on a news report and contacted them.
The woman told detectives that Angulo Rivera had posed as someone seeking old eyeglass frames and offered to turn them into costume jewelry, according to the report.
She also claimed to clean jewelry, convincing the victim to hand over about $30,000 worth of valuables, the report stated.
Investigators said Angulo Rivera then poured a liquid into a container holding the jewelry, causing it to smoke, and instructed the victim to cover it with a paper towel and wait an hour.
When the victim later removed the towel, her jewelry was gone — replaced by a melted rosary and fake costume pieces, deputies said.
They said the victim identified Angulo Rivera in a photographic lineup on Monday.
Later that day, Miami police apprehended her at their auto pound unit and transferred her into the custody of the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
This isn’t Angulo Rivera’s first brush with the law.
Earlier this month, she was arrested in connection with a similar scam in Miami’s Flagami neighborhood, where police said she used the same method to steal nearly $50,000 in jewelry from another elderly victim.
“She said, ‘Can you give me a little water?’ So I said yes,” Nelsa Silvera, one of the victims, previously told Local 10 News.
In that case, authorities said Angulo Rivera also approached a second victim, claiming she wanted to buy copper, then used the same distraction technique to steal their valuables.
Authorities believe she exploited the victims’ trust by posing as a helpful visitor and using deceptive tactics to pull off the thefts. Police estimate the total losses across the incidents to be about $80,000.
Angulo Rivera declined to speak with detectives without a lawyer present, according to deputies.
Jail records show she is facing one count each of organized fraud of $20,000 or more but less than $50,000 and exploitation of the elderly.
As of Tuesday, she was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where her bond was listed as “to be set.”
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of this scam is urged to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
