Financial planner accused of scamming another Century Village resident

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – A man accused of scamming seniors living at Century Village out of thousands of dollars now faces additional charges.

Ariel Hernandez was arrested in January on two counts of theft from persons 65 or older. Pembroke Pines police said Wednesday that he faces new charges after another resident said she was duped out of nearly $200,000 while he served as her financial adviser.

Capt. Al Xiques said the 92-year-old woman entrusted Hernandez to handle her finances. Instead, Hernandez used her personal identification information to pilfer almost $200,000 from her bank account, including her home equity loan, Xiques said.

Surveillance photographs and video released Wednesday show Hernandez making unauthorized bank transactions and picking up merchandise he bought with the woman's credit card, Xiques said.

Hernandez is accused of embezzling from two other Century Village residents. Police said he would invest their money, but he also wired thousands of dollars at a time from their accounts to his.

Another financial planner for a Century Village resident noticed the irregularities and called police.

Xiques said Hernandez, who remains in jail, has stolen more than $637,000 from the senior citizens he was supposed to be helping.

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