Caretaker charged in theft of homes, more than $1 million of dead couple

Two Florida women are being accused by prosecutors of filing fake deeds in Broward County to gain control over two homes and more than a million dollars that had belonged to a dead couple that one of the woman had cared for.

The latest deed fraud investigated by the Broward County Property Appraiser’s Office’s Crimes Against Property Unit involves a caretaker whose charge was the wife of a retired sheriff’s detention deputy.

Veronica Gordon, 60, of Plantation, surrendered Friday and is charged with eight crimes, according to  investigators, including grand theft and filing false documents.

Her attorney, Johnny McCray, Jr., said she will plead not guilty and Gordon “maintains her innocence.”

Her notary, Anna Young, 53, of Port St. Lucie, was labeled a fugitive Friday by investigators and a warrant has been issued for her arrest. She was scheduled to turn herself in Friday morning on seven fraud charges including organized fraud, two felonies of obtaining property by fraud, filing false documents, and using or possessing personal identification information of a deceased person.

Young will plead not guilty and will “surrender sometime next week,” said her defense attorney Daryl E. Wilcox. A mix-up prevented her from turning herself in Friday, he said.

According to the complaint affidavit, Vivian Myrel, who died in May 2020, was the owner of a house on Pasadena Boulevard in Pembroke Pines. During a prolonged illness, Gordon, a certified nursing assistant, cared for Myrel, according to the complaint.

Myrel is the ex-wife of Walter Rivera-Alfonso, who retired from the Broward Sheriff’s Office and was a U.S. Air Force veteran. After Rivera-Alfonso and Myrel divorced, Rivera-Alfonso purchased another home in the city, on  Northwest 100th Avenue, but the two “remained friendly and while Vivian was ill, Walter even moved back into the Pasadena Boulevard home to help care for her before her death,” according to the criminal complaint.

Even after his ex-wife died, he stayed in the house.

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But almost four years later, on Nov. 13, 2023, a postal worker smelled a foul odor, noticed the mail was not being retrieved, and  alerted law enforcement.

Rivera-Alfonso’s decomposing body was found, and experts estimate he had died of natural causes between one to two weeks earlier.

On Nov. 20, records show, Gordon called Pembroke Pines Police from Myrel’s house to report a burglary. The house had been ransacked and “Gordon led PPPD officers to believe that she was Walter’s only friend, that he had no family, and that she was there at the direction of ‘the lawyer’  to find documents,” according to the complaint. When a police officer asked to speak to the lawyer, Gordon did call a law firm, but the receptionist told the officer they had never represented Rivera-Alfonso, but said Gordon had an appointment the following day, records show.

While police were at the house, Gordon and another woman were “allowed to roam through the house unescorted and are seen on (bodyworn camera)  footage rifling through papers and mail scattered on a table,” according to the criminal complaint.  “Without presenting any evidence or documentation that she was authorized to enter the house, remove anything from it, or act on behalf of Walter she was allowed unfettered access to it and was eventually left to secure it.”

“She cleaned everything out — heirlooms, furniture, guns,” said Mike Fisten, an investigator with the Property Appraiser’s Office.

Gordon told the officers she had “no idea” about anything related to Rivera-Alfonso’s house on Northwest 100th Avenue when asked if his car was there. But a week later, on Nov. 29, Gordon and Young recorded a deed that gave the house to Gordon. The deed was dated Oct. 5, a month before his death.

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On Nov. 30, records show, Gordon transferred a deed of the dead woman’s house on Pasadena Boulevard to herself. The deed was dated April 6, 2020, which was a month before Myrel’s death.

According to the complaint affidavit, Gordon was assisted by Young, who was the notary and is seen on video with Gordon at the Broward County Government Center recording documents at window No. 9.

But according to the complaint, Young did not become a notary until December 2020, which was eight months after the deed was notarized.

In January, Gordon opened a probate case. According to the criminal complaint, Gordon was able to provide “documents likely taken out of Vivian’s residence when Gordon was there with PPPD reporting the alleged burglary,” including original death certificates, bank statements and vehicle titles.

“Gordon attempted to become the personal representative of Walter’s estate and gain control over all his assets valued at over $1.5 million,” according to the complaint. She was stopped only when an attorney for Rivera-Alfonso’s nephew filed an objection.

The nephew’s attorney, Pedro Armando Perez-Roura, said that Rivera also has two adult children. “It’s quite an unfortunate event,” he said, when a family “loses a loved one and then someone tries to essentially steal. It’s very unfortunate and we are taking steps to remedy the situation.”

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Myrel also has “many heirs,” according to the complaint.

“This case really tugs at my heart,” said Property Appraiser Marty Kiar, “because the deceased victims were seniors, one of whom, Walter Rivera, served our country in the U.S. Air Force and 18 years as a member of the Broward Sheriff’s Office. Walter dedicated his life to serving us, and these defendants are charged with targeting him and his former wife.”

While the Broward County Property Appraiser’s Office has long investigated homestead fraud, Kiar assembled a new team of detectives in 2022 to snuff out deed fraud. The team has now grown to 10, including detectives who work for the Sheriff’s Office, Fort Lauderdale Police and Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

He said it’s a growing problem where scammers have taken over houses using fraudulent quit claim deeds or fraudulent liens or fake wills, and have in many cases forced rightful owners out the door of their own homes by posing as the owners in court.

“It’s very important for the deceased victims, their families and our community that all those involved answer for their alleged crimes,” Kiar said.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com . Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash