Three arrested in South Florida affordable housing scam

The women allegedly took thousands of dollars from victims between 2015 and 2017

(Credit: iStock)
(Credit: iStock)

Three women were arrested last week for their roles in an affordable housing scam in Miami-Dade.

Manuela Leonor Levy, Azalia Isabel Garcia and Aurora Mercedes Gomez were arrested by Miami-Dade Police last week on charges of an organized scheme to defraud, public records show.

They allegedly took thousands of dollars from Section 8 housing applicants between October 2015 and July 2017 after promising to expedite the application process for affordable housing, according to NBC Miami.

The women, who range in age from 57-years-old to 74, were not employed by a government housing agency. One victim, Haydee Gutierrez, said she paid them about $3,000 for what she thought was a standard application fee. A year later, she realized it was a scam.

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Fraud is rampant in the housing industry.

Earlier this year, nine people were arrested for their roles in a $600,000 residential insurance fraud scheme in Miami-Dade, and officials planned to arrest 25 homeowners who also allegedly participated in the plot.

In August, two Hialeah construction executives were sentenced by a federal judge after being convicted of hiding people on their payrolls and defrauding the low-income housing program.
[NBC Miami] – Katherine Kallergis