They stole homes from the estates of dead people — nearly $12 million, investigators say

Under the guise of various companies, a group of seven people fraudulently took ownership of 44 homes in Broward — some from the estates of dead people, the Broward Sheriff's Office said late Tuesday night.

Dubbed Operation Tomb Raider, the sheriff's office said it arrested six people Tuesday, in addition to the one who was previously arrested.

Those arrested Tuesday include the following: Catherine Lichtman, 56; Mircho Murdjeff, 58; Gillian Solomon, 49; Illya Tinker, 48; Patricia Tinker, 44, and Darren Tinker, 23. Compton Maycock-Beckles, 46, was arrested in 2016.

Together, the seven face more than 600 felony charges including grand theft and identity theft, the sheriff's said. BSO said the homes valued more than $12 million.

According to the sheriff's office, over a seven-year period, the group operated under various company names including Global Homebuyers, Prestige Home Buyers and Global Management Consulting Group. They used these companies to steal distressed homes from the estates of 18 dead people, authorities say.

"At times, they would sell the same home to more than one person and collect payments from both parties nearly simultaneously," BSO said in a news release. "In other cases, they used powers of attorney to get access to deceased homeowners' bank accounts and social security checks and back-dated documents to make it appear as if victims gave permission."

The investigation began in June 2016 after a detective in Weston "discovered that Maycock-Beckles was living in a foreclosed home that belonged to someone else," according to the BSO.

Anyone who is a victim or has further information is asked to contact BSO Det. Christopher Bradley at 954-888-5319 or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477).

This story was originally published May 9, 2018 at 12:08 AM with the headline "They stole homes from the estates of dead people — nearly $12 million, investigators say."