A home health care worker was arrested after prosecutors say he exploited elderly clients and transferred ownership of a Miami-Dade condominium where an 86-year-old woman lives with her disabled son. .
Dahamara Cuervo Alonso, 48, was arrested Tuesday on charges of grand theft of more than $100,000, exploitation of the elderly and organized scheme to defraud more than $50,000.
According to the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, Cuervo Alonso was brought in as a home health aide to assist two victims, including a mother suffering from severe cognitive impairment and a 51-year-old son with disabilities. That's what it means. Medical and physical issues that substantially limit his mobility.
Cuervo Alonso regularly asked clients to sign documents proving their hours worked, which was common in the home health care industry.
Documents were always written in English, but Spanish was the only language that mother and son could read and speak.
The son said Cuervo Alonso told the son and his mother to sign documents to “receive compensation” for their services, but no one read the documents, prosecutors said.
In August 2023, the son said he watched a YouTube video of an article about fraudulent retirement claim deeds completed on real estate without the knowledge of the property owner.
After watching the video, prosecutors said they looked up real estate information for the condo online and found it was now in Cuervo Alonso's name.
He alerted the authorities, who discovered a fraudulent severance claim letter written in English and written by Cuervo Alonso.
Investigators said Cuervo Alonso had been assigned to the victims for less than a year and had no relationship with them other than the medical services she provided.
“Cuervo Alonso used his position as the victim's trusted caregiver to trick the victim into illegally signing documents that he did not understand,” the state attorney's office said in a news release.
Cuervo Alonso, of Miami Gardens, was arrested by the State Attorney's Office's Elderly and Vulnerable Adults Unit.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney said, “The fraudulent transfer of property in an 86-year-old woman's condominium was not only theft of her home, but also the theft of the home of her 51-year-old disabled son, who was living with her. ” he said. Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in her statement. “It is a sad comment that free and clear ownership of a home does not provide future financial security, but rather becomes a target for suspected thieves. – This is why the Vulnerable People's Division was created. As I have said before, in this community we will not tolerate victimization of our elderly and vulnerable residents. Too many of our residents They are vulnerable to such exploitation.”
Cuervo Alonso was being held on $45,000 bail, according to jail records. Attorney information was not available.
