A Florida man who allegedly posed as a dead woman’s grandson has been accused of moving into her house and attempting to sell it, police said.
Braden Antonio Emdin, 38, of Fort Lauderdale, obtained the home and lived there before trying to sell it for approximately $500,000, the Sun-Sentinel reported Wednesday.
The house’s owner, Tamarac Muriel Meisler, died Oct. 22, 2019, according to her obituary. She and her husband bought the house in 1982 for $145,000, property records show. (RELATED: EX-NFL Defensive Back Buster Skrine Arrested For Allegedly Defrauding Several Banks Of $100,000)
Man posed as dead woman’s grandson to steal her home, move in and try to sell it, deputies say https://t.co/paLpZ1pr5a pic.twitter.com/enGKYCQSoy
— South Florida Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) September 13, 2023
The home is listed for $651,000 on Zillow as of early Thursday morning.
After Meisler’s death, Emdin allegedly produced a document that said Meisler wanted her “grandson” to have the home “so that he would have a place to make his own,” according to the Sentinel.
“My grandson honestly has been there for me since day one making sure I wanted for nothing,” the document reportedly reads.
Emdin registered the house with Broward County’s Owner Alert program May 30, 2023, according to a County Sheriff’s Department press release. The program notifies an owner if a deed is filed on their property indicating changed ownership.
A probable cause affidavit obtained by WPTV shows that Emdin made numerous phone calls and sent emails to employees at the property appraiser’s office and title company “in an attempt to deceive them into believing that he was the rightful heir to said property.”
“He thought he was one step ahead of us,” Ron Cacciatore, director of the Professional Standards and Compliance of the Broward County Property Appraiser’s Office, told the Sentinel.
Emdin was arrested by sheriff’s deputies after he signed the deed at the title company Aug. 17, the Sentinel reported. He was charged with grand theft of more than $100,000, unlawful filing of false property documents, obtaining property over $50,000 by fraud and fraud possession of identification of another person without their consent, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office news release.
“Marty Kiar, Broward County Property Appraiser, and Sheriff (Gregory) Tony want to assure the public that these crimes will not be tolerated in Broward County and through their partnership will work tirelessly to protect the homes of Broward County residents,” Kiar said in the Sheriff’s Office’s statement.
Booking records show that Emdin is being detained in the Broward County Jail with bail set at $151,038.