A Bronx woman faces felony criminal charges in Palm Beach County after detectives claim she siphoned over $156,000 from the sale of her elderly aunt’s condo, which prosecutors say was intended to meet the aunt’s memory-care costs.
According to court papers, the aunt with advanced dementia sold a Hialeah apartment in April 2021. According to the case documents, the closing brought in around $156,295.82.
Documents filed by Coral Springs police Detective Eugene Cashier indicate that 38-year-old Crystal Olga Terry Gonzalez opened two joint JPMorgan Chase accounts in her aunt’s name the day before the shutdown. According to investigators, she placed the selling profits into the joint accounts before shifting the condo money into accounts in her personal name.
According to detectives, Gonzalez took $13,736 in cash, transferred $45,000 to a personal account, and spent more than $63,000 on retail items in New York and New Jersey. During the same time period, payments to her aunt’s assisted-living home fell off, leaving an unpaid total that authorities say eventually surpassed $26,000.
Palms Edge Assisted Living and Memory Care, located at 4201 Leo Lane in Palm Beach Gardens, touts itself as a secure memory-care home with 24-hour personnel and dementia-specific treatments.
According to the affidavit reviewed by law enforcement, as payments from the aunt’s funds declined, the facility advised that the resident may need to be moved to a new placement due to the increasing unpaid balance.
Gonzalez has been charged with grand theft from a person 65 or older and exploitation of an aged or disabled adult, both of which are crimes under Florida law. State statutes raise penalties for victims aged 65 and up and provide both criminal and civil remedies for elder exploitation.
These laws are specified in Florida Statutes 812.0145 and the elder-exploitation rules in Chapter 825.
Elder financial exploitation is hardly uncommon. In 2023, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center estimated that adults 60 and over lost more than $3.4 billion. Advocacy groups claim that is only a fraction of the true impact. When unreported occurrences are taken into account, AARP’s BankSafe research forecasts an annual loss of around $28.3 billion.
According to BocaNewsNow, Gonzalez remains in Palm Beach County jail as the investigation and case review continue. Prosecutors will determine whether to submit a formal charge and seek restitution for the aunt’s estate after reviewing the affidavit and related financial documents.
Leave a Reply