Miami Shores detective now charged federally; agents say $1.6M scheme victimized seniors nationwide

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Miami Shores police detective arrested in August on Washington state charges that he scammed a senior is now in heaps more trouble. He and his accused co-conspirators face four federal fraud and identity theft charges, according to court documents obtained by Local 10 News on Tuesday.

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Detective Shmueal Mauda, a 36-year-old lawman also known as Sam Mauda, is accused of ― among other things ― using a dead person’s credit card to pay for a vacation to South Korea. Records show all three made appearances in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Monday.

He joins alleged accomplices Elisha Mauda, 39, and Brent Small, 58, in staring down the possibility of decades in federal prison after authorities said they targeted “elderly and deceased victims” across the country, including multiple seniors in their 90s.

Feds: Scheme targeted vulnerable victims

In a federal criminal complaint, a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service wrote that the Maudas, of Pembroke Pines, and Small, of Hollywood, stole victims’ identities and funneled money to companies they controlled. Authorities have not elaborated on how the Maudas may be related, but noted that the two live close on the same street.

All three were initially arrested in connection with a case originating from the small town of Sedro-Woolley, Washington, about 60 miles north of Seattle. Authorities there accused the trio of victimizing a senior living there, issuing a warrant on state charges.

Authorities said the group would “open credit cards in the victims’ names or ‘take over’ existing, but dormant, accounts in the victims’ names,” conducting everything online. The victims, a special agent noted, “generally did not have online access and therefore could not promptly detect the fraud.”

According to the complaint, the trio changed the victims’ account addresses to a home at 1400 NE 173rd St. in North Miami Beach. The home, authorities said, was owned by a Davie-based company called Sky Realty FL LLC, for which Small was the manager and registered agent.

Authorities said victims’ credit cards would be mailed to the single-family home, which sometimes had a fake apartment number attached “as a means of thwarting banks’ fraud detection software.”

According to the complaint, undercover investigators saw Small “retrieving mail” from the address.

Authorities accuse the group of using the credit cards for personal expenses and accused the Maudas of funneling funds to separate companies each controlled.

In one case, authorities said a 97-year-old Iowan’s credit card was used to make a $9,513 property tax payment on the North Miami Beach home.

Other victims included a 96-year-old fellow Iowan, a 98-year-old from Indiana and other nonagenarians whose states of residence weren’t specified. Agents said they also used information belonging to two dead victims, whose ages nor states of residence were specified.

The complaint also references an 85-year-old from Washington state who had $800,000 stolen from his Chase account to pay down balances on the other victims’ credit cards, allowing for additional purchases. It wasn’t immediately clear whether that was the same victim from the original arrest.

In one case, Shmueal Mauda is accused of using a credit card in the name of an already-dead victim to pay for a trip to Seoul, South Korea.

Small would later tell investigators that the Maudas, whom he had worked for as a contractor, “took care of him, including paying his bills, covering travel expenses, and often providing him with food,” in exchange for his assistance in the scheme, the complaint states.

The charges, withdrawals and transfers added up to more than $1.6 million, authorities allege.

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Trio arrested, including 1 on FLL jet bridge

Authorities said on Aug. 13, authorities in Skagit County, Washington issued an arrest warrant for Small and the Maudas.

That same day, Davie police executed search warrants at addresses in the town associated with the fraudulent companies, as well as the Maudas’ Pembroke Pines homes in the 7300 block of Northwest 17th Court and Small’s Hollywood home in the 1700 block of Wiley Street, according to the complaint.

Police said they took Small and Shmueal Mauda into custody soon after the raids. They said hours after executing the warrants, they received a travel alert that Elisha Mauda had booked a one-way plane ticket to Bogota, Colombia, the complaint states.

The complaint states that authorities stopped Elisha Mauda “on the jet bridge at the Fort Lauderdale airport” as he was about to get on the flight.

Small, agents said, admitted to a role in the scheme and admitted “that he occasionally used those cards for minor purchases when given permission” by Elisha Mauda, but claimed “the only criminal activity he was aware of” was using cards not in his name.

But agents said Small also admitted that he “opened and maintained certain bank accounts” at Elisha Mauda’s direction and had multiple computers in his home, with internet paid for by Elisha Mauda.

According to the complaint, Shmueal Mauda acknowledged controlling one of the companies and its bank accounts but denied using an account that received fraudulent proceeds. Authorities said he declined to tell investigators who else had account access.

They said Elisha Mauda declined to provide a statement.

Shmueal Mauda was placed on unpaid leave by the Miami Shores Police Department following his arrest.

What’s next

All three men now face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The trio could spend the rest of their lives in federal prison if convicted of all four counts and sentenced to the maximum prison terms consecutively, with three of the charges each carrying potential 30-year penalties.

Chris Cavallo and Jayne Weintraub, attorneys for Elisha Mauda, said in a brief statement on Tuesday that their client “maintains his innocence and looks forward to clearing his name in court.”

Shmueal Mauda’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment as of publication on Tuesday, while Small’s initial appearance form did not list an attorney.

The men are set to be back in Fort Lauderdale federal court for pre-trial detention hearings next Tuesday, with arraignment hearings scheduled for Oct. 5.

Records show that as of Tuesday, Elisha Mauda and Small were being held at the Broward Sheriff’s Office’s Joseph V. Conte jail facility in Pompano Beach, while Shmueal Mauda was being held at BSO’s Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale.

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