DORAL, Fla. – A Doral man is facing four first-degree felony charges after police said he took advantage of his elderly landlord, using the man’s bank account information to pay credit card bills — and for a Lamborghini.
Police arrested Yaroslan Bartutis, 43, on Wednesday.
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According to an arrest report, Bartutis had been renting a unit at the Palm Gardens Condominiums, located near Northwest 114th Avenue and 74th Street, for three years. His address is now listed as a residence in downtown Doral.
The elderly landlord lives in Venezuela, but had a South Florida-based realtor representing him, managing several of his residences, police said.
The report states that the victim, who received rent via transfers to his Wells Fargo account, noticed some of Bartutis’ transactions were going the opposite way. Police said the victim zeroed in on several suspicious transactions, including money sent to Porsche and Lamborghini, all under Bartutis’ name.
Police said an audit revealed that Bartutis made nearly $78,000 in payments using the victim’s bank account information. Besides cars and credit cards, they said some of the money went to the godmother of Bartutis’ child, Edith Molina.
Molina is considered to be a co-defendant in the case, the report states; her name was not yet listed in Miami-Dade court records and it appears she had not yet been arrested as of Thursday. Police said the Lamborghini, which Bartutis has posted “several pictures” of on Instagram, is in Molina’s name.
Porsche Financial Services — which handles Lamborghini financing — currently has an open civil case against Molina in Miami-Dade County court for failing to make payments on the 2021 Lamborghini Urus, worth approximately $250,000, according to its lawsuit
According to a sale contract included in the lawsuit, Molina, living in Cutler Bay, traded in a 2018 Ferrari 488 Spider for the SUV at Lamborghini Broward, located at 4645 Volunteer Road in Davie.
The suit states that Molina stopped making payments on the Lamborghini last June, owing more than $117,000 plus interest.
As for Bartutis and his criminal case, police said the Cuban national spoke to detectives on Wednesday.
The arrest report states that he “admitted (to) having a Chase account, but said his account is from several years ago and stated he does not know anything about making personal payments to his accounts using the victim’s Wells Fargo account.”
Bartutis said “that if there were payments made using the victim’s account information then it was done by mistake,” the report states, and “admitted (to) driving a green Lamborghini, which he stated was repossessed.”
He remained off the roads as of Thursday afternoon after being charged with elderly exploitation, organized fraud, theft from elderly and grand theft.
A Miami-Dade judge gave Bartutis a $47,500 bond, according to jail records. If he posts bond, he’ll have to prove the money came from a legitimate source.