Two men from Brooklyn have been convicted of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from an elderly woman in Clinton Hill over the course of six months.
Humberto Nunez, 68, of Clinton Hill and Mahilima Baa, 52, of Stuyvesant Heights have been sentenced to up to three years in prison, according to a press release.
"These defendants targeted an individuals who is among the most vulnerable of our population, a 94-year-old woman, while pretending to be neighborly and helpful," said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. "Instead, they stole hundred of thousands of dollars. Fortunately, their scheme was unraveled, and they have now been held accountable."
Nunez and Baa were sentenced to an indeterminate term of one to three years in prison. The defendants were convicted of second-degree grand larceny and second-degree criminal possession of stolen property on March 20, 2024, following a jury trial. Baa was additionally convicted of two counts of first-degree identity theft.
According to the trial testimony, between July 19, 2019, and January 7, 2020, the defendants, who are acquaintances, stole approximately $52,000 from a former business account associated with 684 Quality Cleaners, which was owned by Nunez’s former neighbor, Rose Kane, who is now deceased. Nunez, who lived two doors down from the victim and occasionally ran errands for her, was purportedly given power of attorney by her prior to her becoming incapacitated, moving into a nursing home, and having a guardian appointed. Furthermore, on November 5, 2019, the defendants stole approximately $175,000 from a reverse mortgage line of credit the victim had since 2009.
According to the evidence, defendant Baa stole another $20,000 by impersonating the victim and opening two credit cards using her name, her address, date of birth and her Social Security number. He then added himself to the accounts as an authorized user. He used the funds to pay for various fees and personal expenses, a rental car, furniture for his children, office supplies, alcohol, restaurants and at a night club.
Nunez also used the funds for his personal expenses, according to the evidence, despite telling the reverse mortgage company the money was to be used to make badly needed and extensive repairs to the victim’s house. However, no repairs were made to the property and the defendants withdrew most of the $175,000 received from the reverse mortgage line of credit in cash, with the rest used to make credit card payments and personal purchases.
