Man used straw buyer with intellectual disability to defraud homeownership program, prosecutors say

MIAMI – A man was arrested on Friday for allegedly manipulating someone with an intellectual disability to steal from a local government program that is designed to help low-income first-time home buyers, according to Miami-Dade prosecutors.

Elie Floradin “engaged” the man as a straw buyer to obtain about $120,000 through fraudulent transactions involving the Miami-Dade’s Economic Advocacy Trust, according to the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust.

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Floradin, 58, is accused of exploiting the Economic Advocacy Trust’s mission “to ensure the equitable participation of Blacks in ... economic growth” by targeting the trust’s Homeownership Assistance Program, which provides zero-interest deferred loans and second forgivable balloon mortgages.

Records show Floradin was at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Friday afternoon. He is facing charges of organized scheme to defraud, mortgage fraud, first-degree grand theft, and third-degree grand theft.

Related news release

Aug. 21, 2021 (MDCSAO)

About the Author:

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.