A South Florida man has been charged with multiple felonies after he “looted the finances” of a 71-year-old retired nurse who lived with her disabled and vulnerable adult daughter in Miami Shores, the Miami-Dade State’s Attorney’s Office announced on Tuesday.
According to information provided by Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, 55-year-old Lyne Bien-Aime was arrested after a lengthy investigation.
According to Rundle, the victim suffered a major health episode that left her with a cognitive impairment and the need for around-the-clock care before her death in December 2022.
Bien-Aime appears to have originally met the victim through associations with her church, and then allegedly misrepresented himself as the victim’s nephew when he was in contact with medical officials, Rundle said.
According to the investigation, Bien-Aime allegedly spoke with the victim’s sister and family, who were living in New York, and told them he was a doctor who was going to oversee her care.
Broward Sheriff’s Office
Rundle said that Bien-Aime was not a relative of the victim, which he allegedly claimed to be when speaking with medical professionals, and was not a medical professional, which he claimed to be when speaking with the victim’s family.
However, those claims allowed him to gain access to the victim and allowed him to isolate and manipulate her for his own gain, Rundle claims.
According to Rundle, Bien-Aime had the victim sign legal documents, including power of attorney, which helped him to “empty various bank accounts of her life savings.”
He was also able to use the documents to keep the victim from being able to spend her last days in her Miami Shores home, which she owned, and instead kept her at his own home, Rundle said.
He then continued to steal from her, Rundle claims, by fraudulently transfering her property into his name.
The victim’s life savings and home were supposed to be used to held “safeguard the future of the victim’s severely disabled daughter after the victim’s death,” Rundle said.
The victim’s daughter was taken to New York to be with family during the victim’s health crisis, Rundle said, where she remained until the victim’s death on Dec. 16, 2022.
Bien-Aime now faces several felony charges, including exploitation of an elderly/disabled person, grand thheft from a person over 65 and scheme to defraud in an amount over $50,000. He’s also charged with unlawful filing of false documents or records against real or person property.
