Man drained elder woman’s savings and got her to sign over her home, state says

A man manipulated his way into the life of a 71-year-old retired nurse after a health crisis left her needing around-the-clock care, siphoning her finances and coercing her into signing over her Miami Shores home to him, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.

Lyne Bien-Aime, 55, appears to have met the woman, Marie Jocelyn Bertrand, who lived with her disabled daughter, through their church and began to tell medical authorities he was her nephew. He also told her New York family he was her doctor overseeing her care, prosecutors say.

Bien-Aime is neither her relative nor a medical professional.

Bertrand was the sole caregiver for her daughter, “who had profound special needs” and needed full-time care, according to Bien-Aime’s arrest warrant. Bertrand had a strong bond with her daughter and was fully independent and able to care for her until the medical episode, the warrant states.

Bertrand had a very close relationship with her relatives, who became worried about her after being unable to reach her in the summer of 2022, according to the warrant. Her family was able to locate her at a Miami hospital after she had the medical episode.

As Bertrand’s sister began making plans to travel to South Florida to be by her side, she got a phone call from Bien-Aime assuring her that he was a doctor and would take good care of her with plans of moving her to a nursing facility near his home so he could oversee her. Bertrand’s sister said she believed he was acting in good faith.

Bertrand’s exact medical condition was redacted in Bien-Aime’s arrest warrant, but she suffered from left-sided paralysis, slurred speech, facial droop and significant cognitive impairment, according to medical records cited in Bien-Aime’s arrest warrant. After she failed a swallow evaluation, doctors at North Shore Hospital recommended a feeding tube, but both Bertrand and Bien-Aime — who falsely identified himself as a family member — refused the procedure. Despite being warned of the risk of worsening symptoms or death, Bien-Aime signed her out of the hospital against medical advice on July 23, 2022, detectives say.

Later that day, Bien-Aime brought Bertrand to Memorial West Hospital in Pembroke Pines, again claiming to be her relative. Records show Bertrand was alert but severely impaired, with limited ability to follow commands, poor judgment, lethargy and a need for continuous nursing care, detectives say. She was bed-bound, fully dependent on others and required supervision for her safety.

Bertrand was transferred to Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Sunrise, where doctors documented minimal recovery and found her unable to manage complex tasks or make informed financial decisions, according to the warrant.

A board-certified physician concluded she could not understand or independently handle matters such as online banking, and any signature she provided would have required prompting, detectives say. She remained fully dependent for daily living activities before being transferred again to Glades West Rehabilitation in Miramar at Bien-Aime’s request.

She stayed at Glades West Rehabilitation until Nov. 4, when Bien-Aime secretly took her to his Broward home rather than her Miami Shores home, prosecutors say.

While the woman was living in a rehabilitation hospital with “obvious severe cognitive impairment,” Bien-Aime had her sign legal documents, including power of attorney, which allowed him to drain her bank accounts, amounting to more than $300,000, according to prosecutors.

He also had her transfer her property into his name.

“The victim’s savings and her home that were stolen by Bien-Aime were intended to safeguard the future of the victim’s severely disabled daughter after the victim’s death,” the State Attorney’s Office wrote in a press release.

The woman’s relatives were able to bring her daughter to New York after Bertrand’s death on Dec. 16, 2022, prosecutors say.

Lyne Bien-Aime is charged with one count of the following first-degree felonies: exploitation of an elderly/disabled person in an amount over $50,000, scheme to defraud in an amount over $50,000 and unlawful filing of false documents or records against real or personal property.

This story was originally published February 24, 2026 at 9:38 AM.