Three arrested in property fraud case after an elderly owner discovers lot sold for $230,000

Shirley Gibson, 86, made the annual trek to a county office to pay her property taxes earlier this year, only to be told they were already paid by the new owner.

The Coconut Grove vacant lot her grandfather bought when he immigrated from the Bahamas to South Florida was swiped from right under her. She eventually learned the awful truth: the property had been stolen and resold for $230,000 without her knowledge.

Gibson immediately contacted her friend and lawyer, David Winker, who notified police.

On Friday, as authorities held a press conference to highlight the growing problem of fraud against the elderly, prosecutors revealed they had charged three people suspected of swiping the property.

Otis Lathen Powell, Shantel Vennissa Chang and Jason Webley Sr. were charged with a host of felonies, including money laundering, grand theft, organized scheme to defraud and theft from a person 65 years or older. Police believe the scheme — which involved a complicated series of deposits and wire transfers before the property was sold — was not the trio’s first offense.

“I think that when we’re looking at a crime this sophisticated and really this bold, we’re again just scratching the surface,” Miami Assistant Police Chief Armando Aguilar Jr. said at Friday’s press conference.

Florida currently ranks second in the country for elder fraud with over $84,000,000 lost by those over 60 years of age in the state, according to an FBI report.

Over the past year, the elderly in South Florida have been hit hard. This month, a 93-year-old man was robbed of his home and $500,000 cash by his son and niece. In April, a 31-year-old nurse practitioner was arrested for participating in a scam to target elderly victims and convince them to wire her money.