A home health care worker was arrested after prosecutors said she exploited an elderly client, transferring ownership of the Miami-Dade condo where the 86-year-old woman lives with her disabled son.
Dahamara Cuervo Alonso, 48, was arrested Tuesday on charges of grand theft over $100,000, exploitation of elderly and organized scheme to defraud over $50,000.
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According to the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, Cuervo Alonso was brought in as a home health care aide to assist the two victims, including the mother who suffers from advanced cognitive issues and her 51-year-old disabled son who suffers with a number of medical and physical issues which substantially limit his mobility.
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Cuervo Alonso would routinely request the clients to sign documents to verify the hours she worked, which is a common practice in the home health care industry.
The documents were always in English but the only language the mother and son could read or speak was Spanish.
The son said Cuervo Alonso told him and his mother to sign the documents so that she could "get paid" for her services, but neither one read the documents, prosecutors said.
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In August of 2023, the son said 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 the condo's property information online and discovered that it was now in Cuervo Alonso’s name, prosecutors said.
He notified authorities who found the fraudulent quit claim deed that was prepared by Cuervo Alonso and was written in English.
Investigators said Cuervo Alonso had been assigned to the victims for less than a year and had no relationship with them besides the health care services she provided.
"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," the state attorney's office said in a news release.
Cuervo Alonso, of Miami Gardens, was arrested by the state attorney's office Elderly and Vulnerable Adult Unit.
"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," Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. "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."
Jail records showed Cuervo Alonso was being held on a $45,000 bond. Attorney information wasn't available.
