Miami: Three people have been arrested for stealing the identity of several victims in the kondominium building of the southern condo that turned off, collapse, the prosecutor was announced on Wednesday.
Betsy Alexandra Cacho Madinah, 30, Rodney Choute, 38, and Kimberly Michelle Johnson, 34, was arrested earlier on Wednesday on many charges related to fraud and counterfeiting, the Miami-Dade state lawyer office was announced during a press conference.
Officials have identified at least five people who died and two victims of living from the building, but continued investigations and additional victims can be found, Katherine State lawyer Fernandez Rundle.
“These people seem to be a very skilled identity thief, they are professional,” said Fernandez Rundle.
“Except for their names, almost nothing else about them seems right.” The Towers Champplain Oceanfront South Condominium in Surfside collapsed in the early hours of June 24, killing 98 people.
Authorities were first informed about possible fraudulent activities on July 9, when a sister of one of the victims who died contacted the Surfside police, officials said.
The sister pays attention to changes in passwords on bank accounts and victim credit cards, and new addresses and contact information.
None of the new addresses is where to live identity thieves, officials said.
The group used a series of decline locations, the researchers said, added that it was a general tactic used in fraud schemes.
The group managed to steal around $ 45,000 through illegal cash transfers and by making expensive purchases with credit cards and the discharge obtained cheat.
The investigator said the security workers at the bank and retailers managed to stop another $ 67,000 in fraud.
Some institutions were involved in a fraud investigation, including the Miami-Dade police, a surfing police, Police Aventura, US Secret Service, US Post Inspection Services and US Marshals services.
Officials are still trying to determine what caused a 40-year-old building to collapse for years after the initial warning about serious structural deficiencies.
Debris has been cleaned from the site and taken to the warehouse near Miami International Airport to be checked.
Prison recordings do not include lawyers for Cacho Madinah, Choute or Johnson.