Cubans arrested

Florida authorities arrested a woman of Cuban origin accused of stealing about $100,000 from her ex-partner’s bank accounts while he was traveling in the Greater Antilles.

According to Telemundo 51, the woman was identified as Kenia Pardo Báez, 49 years old, who lived in Miami Gardens.

The woman would have maintained a romantic relationship with the victim for more than 20 years, but both agreed to separate at the beginning of 2023. Despite this, they temporarily lived in the same house, until the property was sold.

After the sale was completed, the woman took advantage of a trip that the victim took in July of last year to illegally access her ex-partner’s online banking profile at Wells Fargo, where she altered his contact information and proceeded to make several unauthorized transfers. authorized.

The police report indicates that the accused managed to divert around $100,000 to her own accounts through these fraudulent electronic transfers, as well as with illegal payments made to third parties.

The authorities indicate that the Cuban woman would have made several cash withdrawals of the extracted sums, which left few traces of her whereabouts.

After his ex-partner returned to Miami, he discovered the multiple suspicious bank transactions, so he notified the authorities.

The woman attempted to justify these transfers by stating that it was a prior financial agreement with the victim, but the woman was unable to present strong evidence to support this version.

Unable to offer a convincing explanation, the woman was arrested and formally charged with charges of bank fraud, aggravated robbery and criminal conspiracy.

After being interrogated, the woman stated that she had done everything because “it was the money I had promised her and what she deserved.”

The woman was detained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade County, but no longer in the jail registry, so it is assumed that she was released after paying her bail.

Miami-Dade County authorities arrested three men of Cuban origin accused of carrying out several robberies at Home Depot stores to later sell the items at a lower price.

The arrest was the result of a joint operation between the Miami-Dade Police Department’s Organized Retail Crime Squad and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The subjects were identified as Lázaro Dunier Echevarría, 37 years old, José Bello-Valdés and Yoannys Montano-Solano, both 44 years old and residents of Miami.

According to the local media America TeVéLázaro Dunier Echevarría was a loss prevention employee at several Home Depot locations, and had been facilitating the thefts since November of last year.

The authorities’ report indicates that the employee made the thieves’ work easier by hiding the merchandise in boxes intended for other cheaper items, which allowed them to leave the store without paying the corresponding amount.

Investigators concluded that Bello-Valdés, with the help of an unidentified accomplice, stole merchandise and passed through checkouts without paying.

One of the documented incidents occurred on Nov. 3 of last year, when Bello-Valdes was at a Home Depot in Kendall. There, he took several Dewalt and Milwaukee brand tools and hid them in an empty box inside a flatbed truck, leaving without paying.

His actions were seen by an elderly man who was in the store, who alerted some Home Depot workers. They filed a complaint, which reached Echeverría. For his part, Bello-Valdés noticed the presence of an off-duty police officer, so he fled to a nearby shopping center, abandoning his vehicle.

On that occasion, Bello-Valdés managed to evade arrest by the authorities, but Echevarría, who was present during the incident, did not report the event to the police, which made him suspicious. The store managed to recover the stolen merchandise, which was valued at about $6,250.

The incident sparked an investigation, and detectives noticed a pattern among several similar robberies at Home Depot stores throughout Florida.

After months of investigation, on April 11, 2024, authorities detained Bello-Valdés as he tried to leave a store with stolen Milwaukee power tools.

Detectives determined that Bello-Valdes was selling the stolen tools to Yoannys Montano-Solano, who, in turn, was selling them online at a price well below their value.

Additionally, investigations revealed that Echeverría made a series of fraudulent returns that represented losses of almost $50,000 for the store.

Authorities searched two locations, recovering 1,240 items that were valued at more than $260,000, with some items still in their original packaging.

The three suspects are being held at the Miami-Dade County Correctional Facility, where they were charged with organized fraud valued at $50,000 or more, grand larceny in the third degree, trafficking in stolen property.