According to investigators, a former pastor stole thousands of dollars from an elderly couple who had visited her church, prompting her arrest.
Yvonne Hampton-Barley, 63, is accused of grand theft, participating in a coordinated fraud scheme, and taking advantage of the elderly, according to Miami-Dade Police authorities on Thursday.
According to investigators, the victims of this incident were elderly and had dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Ralph Ventura, the victim’s family’s lawyer, told NBC 6 that he has known them for a very long time.
“At this moment, justice is being served, and they are relieved and satisfied with that, Ventura added.
When the family found Hampton-Barley had signed the couple’s mortgage in her name, Ventura began to represent them.
Ventura explained, “The thought was that, you know, she’s a lot younger than they are. She would thus take the property after they went.”
In the course of many months, according to the authorities, Hampton-Barley changed the beneficiaries of the victims’ retirement accounts, added her name to their bank accounts, and attempted to withdraw the cash value from their life insurance policy.
In addition, Hampton-Barley pretended to be their daughter to take out around $18,000 from the man’s checking account, according to the police.
“We as a community take these acts extremely seriously when an older person of our society is taken advantage of. Our detectives are interested in speaking with anyone in the community who has relatives or who believes they have been cheated by this individual “Angel Rodriguez, a spokesperson for Miami-Dade Police, said.
According to the lawyer, the couple has now moved outside of the state. Anyone who thinks they could have been a victim of this crime should still come forward, according to police.
