A Miami-Dade man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for exploiting a 94-year-old woman by pretending to be her son, draining her finances and putting himself on the title to her house. According to a report filed by the NBC 6 website, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said Wednesday that Alejandro Diaz Torriente, 67, was convicted in the financial exploitation case and sentenced. He will be on probation for 10 years after his prison sentence. According to reports, Diaz Torriente was arrested in 2023 by the State Attorney’s Office Elder and Vulnerable Adult Exploitation Task Force after a four-month investigation. Authorities said the victim had been living alone in her El Portal home, which she bought in 1980. But in 2021 she was declared legally incompetent, leaving her especially vulnerable to financial exploitation. Diaz Torriente had known the woman as a friend. Investigators said he began calling her “mom” and pretending to be her son during doctor’s visits and other interactions at some point. Authorities later found a trail of financial transactions and property records showing he had defrauded the elderly woman.
Social security payments redirected
Investigators say the woman’s Social Security benefits were redirected to an unknown bank account. Diaz Torriente also allegedly opened bank accounts from which he withdrew approximately $20,000 in cash from the woman. The investigation went beyond the alleged theft of her money. Authorities said Diaz Torriente also targeted the woman’s house, which is worth about $625,000.
Man charged with putting himself on home’s title
Investigators found Diaz Torriente had filed a fraudulent deed adding himself as joint tenant with rights of survivorship on the woman’s El Portal property. The agreement would have afforded him substantial rights to the house and possibly entitled him to automatically inherit the property on the woman’s death. Diaz Torriente eventually took over the house and changed the locks, authorities said, further limiting the elderly woman’s access to her own home. The case highlighted that elderly and vulnerable adults can be targeted not only for their savings but also for valuable property.
Prosecutor warns against
“This case should serve as a warning to anyone who would try to exploit vulnerable older residents,” said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “This case sends a clear message to those who seek to leave our elders destitute and discarded that we will not tolerate this type of heartless crime against our vulnerable residents,” Fernandez Rundle said in a statement Wednesday. Diaz Torriente will spend two decades in prison for the scheme and a decade on probation.
