FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Brooklyn Men Who Stole Approximately $227,000 from
Elderly Clinton Hill Woman Sentenced to Prison
Former Neighbor of 94-Year-Old Woman Facilitated Theft Using a Power of Attorney
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Freaney, U.S. Secret Service New York Field Office, today announced that two men convicted of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from an elderly woman over six months have been sentenced to up to three years in prison.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “These defendants targeted an individual who is among the most vulnerable of our populations – a 94-year-old woman – while pretending to be neighborly and helpful. Instead, they stole hundreds of thousands of dollars. Fortunately, their scheme was unraveled, and they have now been held accountable. I thank the Secret Service and my prosecutors for their work on this case.”
Special Agent in Charge Freaney said, “These men took advantage of an elderly woman, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars out from under her. Crimes like these that affect the most vulnerable among us are abhorrent, and the Secret Service is grateful to our partners from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office for holding these men accountable and ensuring that justice was done.”
The District Attorney identified the defendants as Humberto Nunez, 68, of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn and Mahilima Baa, 52, of Stuyvesant Heights, Brooklyn. They were sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Adam D. Perlmutter. Both defendants were sentenced to an indeterminate term of one to three years in prison. The defendants were convicted of second-degree grand larceny and second-degree criminal possession of stolen property on March 20, 2024, following a jury trial. Baa was additionally convicted of two counts of first-degree identity theft.
The District Attorney said that, according to the trial testimony, between July 19, 2019, and January 7, 2020, the defendants, who are acquaintances, stole approximately $52,000 from a former business account associated with 684 Quality Cleaners, which was owned by Nunez’s former neighbor, Rose Kane, who is now deceased. Nunez, who lived two doors down from the victim and occasionally ran errands for her, was purportedly given power of attorney by her prior to her becoming incapacitated, moving into a nursing home, and having a guardian appointed.
Furthermore, on November 5, 2019, the defendants stole approximately $175,000 from a reverse mortgage line of credit the victim had since 2009.
Furthermore, according to the evidence, defendant Baa stole another $20,000 by impersonating the victim and opening two credit cards using her name, her address, date of birth and her Social Security number. He then added himself to the accounts as an authorized user. He used the funds to pay for various fees and personal expenses, a rental car, furniture for his children, office supplies, alcohol, restaurants and at a night club.
Nunez also used the funds for his personal expenses, according to the evidence, despite telling the reverse mortgage company the money was to be used to make badly needed and extensive repairs to the victim’s house. However, no repairs were made to the property and the defendants withdrew most of the $175,000 received from the reverse mortgage line of credit in cash, with the rest used to make credit card payments and personal purchases.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service New York Field Office and Detective Investigators assigned to the District Attorney’s Investigations Bureau.
The District Attorney thanked Intelligence Analyst Yacelys Corona and Paralegal Sheila Jones, of the Investigations Division, for their assistance on the case.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Karen P. Turner, of the District Attorney’s and Senior Assistant District Attorney Daniel R. Tibbets, both of the District Attorney’s Frauds Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Gregory Pavlides, Frauds Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Michel Spanakos, Deputy Chief of the Investigations Division and Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Chief of the Investigations Division.
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