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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEHome Health Care Worker Charged in Alleged Property Theft |
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Click here to access the PDF version of this release.
(Miami – April 9, 2024)
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announces the arrest of 48-year-old Dahamara Cuervo Alonso, a home Health Care worker, by members of the State Attorney’s Office Elderly and Vulnerable Adult Unit (EVA) for the alleged fraudulent property transfer of her clients’ condominium.
Dahamara Cuervo Alonso is being charged with the following 1st Degree Felony crimes:
• 1 count Exploitation of Elderly
• 1 count – Grand Theft over $100,000
• 1 count – Organized Scheme to Defraud over $50,000
“This fraudulent property transfer of an 86-year-old woman’s condo was not just the theft of her home, but also the theft of the home of her 51-year-old disabled son who resided with her,” said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “It is a sad comment when owning your home, free and clear, does not provide for your future financial security but instead makes you a target for an alleged thief. Cases like this are the reason my Elder and Vulnerable Adult Unit was created. As I have said before, in this community, we will not tolerate the victimization of our elder and vulnerable residents. Far too many of our residents are vulnerable to such exploitation.”
In the arrest made today, Dahamara Cuervo Alonso was brought in as a home health care aide to assist the two victims. The 86-year-old mother suffers from advanced cognitive issues and her 51-year-old disabled son suffers with a number of medical and physical issues which substantially limit his mobility. Neither the mother nor the son has the capacity of caring for themselves and require assistance for their daily needs. Additionally, neither the mother nor son read or speak English. This language issue plays an important role in the commission of the alleged crime.
How the scheme was perpetrated was very simple: As the services provided by Cuervo Alonso were arranged through a service agency, she would routinely request the clients to sign documents to verify the hours she worked. This is a common practice in the Home Health Care industry. The son stated that, on several occasions, Cuervo Alonso instructed him and his mother to sign documents so that she could “get paid” for her services. Neither one read the documents they were instructed to sign. All daily communications between Cuervo Alonso and the victims were completed in Spanish only, since this was the only language, the victims could speak or read. However, all the documents they were requested to sign were always in English.
The son indicated that in August of 2023, he saw a YouTube video of a story about a fraudulent quit claim deed completed on a property without the knowledge of the property owner. After seeing the video, he looked up his residence property information online and discovered that the victim’s home was now in Cuervo Alonso’s name. Once the son discovered the fraudulent quit claim deed, he notified the police. The quit claim deed was prepared by Cuervo Alonso and is written in English, a language that the mother and the son do not speak, write, read, nor understand.
Cuervo Alonso took advantage of her position as victim’s trusted caregiver to unlawfully trick the victims into signing a document which they did not understand. Prior to Cuervo Alonso being assigned as a home health aide to these victims in the later part of 2022, they had never met Cuervo Alonso. The mother never intended to transfer any interest in her home to Cuervo Alonso, whom she had only known for less than 1 year and had no relationship with outside of healthcare services.
If you are interested in seeking commentary from State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, you may call 305-547-0535 to see if it possible to make the necessary arrangements.
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For further information, please contact Ed Griffith, Public Information Officer, at (305) 547-0535 or EdGriffith@MiamiSAO.com