May 28, 2009 6:14 pm US/Eastern
I-Team: More Arrests In County Tax Fraud Case
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office charged three more homeowners Thursday with defrauding the county of property taxes by either hiding the fact that a family member who qualified for a special disability exemption had died or by filing false affidavits to get the exemption themselves.
This followed an arrest earlier this month of Maria de los Angeles Grande, 53, who avoided paying nearly $40,000 in property taxes on her Hialeah home between 1990 and 2007 by taking a property tax exemption granted to her quadriplegic father who died in 1990.
"She understood that the exemption status on the house should have been changed after the death of her father and did not report the death of her father to the [Property Appraiser] to avoid paying property taxes," wrote Jennifer Chirolis, an investigator with the county's Inspector General's Office.
Thursday Grande's attorney said his client never intended to cheat the county and said even though she lived in the house, it wasn't technically her house since the estate never went through probate and the title was never transferred to her name after her father's death nineteen years ago. He said he hoped to work out an amicable settlement with the county.
On Thursday, three more individuals were arrested:
Telenia Piedra, 59, of Miami, is accused by investigators of submitting fraudulent financial statements between 2004 and 2008 in order to gain the exemption granted to her husband who died in 2003. The IG estimates she cheated the county out of more than $13,000 in taxes. She has been charged with Forgery, Uttering Forged Instruments, Organized Scheme to Defraud and Grand Theft.
Dane Taylor, 60, also from Miami, is accused of failing to notify the Property Appraiser's Office of his wife's passing in 2005 and over the next two years improperly received exemptions breaks of more than $40,000. Taylor was charged with Grand Theft.
Philip Espinosa, 50, was also charged. Espinosa allegedly exploited the exemption granted to his mother who died in 1999. Prosecutors allege that Espinosa continued to file fraudulent financial statements in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, and 2007, in order to continue to receive the special exemption. According to the IG, "Espinosa's fraud cost the County a total of $9,256 in property taxes." He has been charged with Forgery, Uttering Forged Instruments, Organized Scheme to Defraud and Grand Theft.
"No one gets up in the morning wanting to pay taxes, but this is what we do to keep our communities safe and functioning," said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle in announcing the arrests. "When you cheat the county out of property taxes by claiming exemptions you are not entitled to, or when you falsify the signatures of dead relatives in order to avoid paying your share of property taxes, you are cheating your neighbors, your friends, and every hard-working individual who abides by the law. You are cheating everyone."
The Inspector General said the investigation is continuing and other properties are now being reviewed. More arrests were expected.
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