The aftermath of the collapse of the condo building in Surfside, Florida.Photo: Miami-Dade Fire Rescue/Twitter
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office announced the arrests on Wednesday, two months after the devastating collapse of theChamplain Tower South Condominium, in which 98 people died.
According to theMiami Herald, the suspects — who have not yet been publicly named — are facing multiple counts of identity theft and organized scheme to defraud.
The suspects allegedly stole the identifies of three deceased victims and two survivors, theHeraldreports.
Mourners at the site of the Surfside condo collapse.Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty
The sister of one of the victims told theHeraldin July that she had noticed that some of her sister’s passwords on her bank account and credit cards had changed.
“I was home writing the eulogy,” she said. “I don’t know why, but I looked down. I saw notifications from Wells Fargo. I saw emails with money transfers. I didn’t even know she had a Wells Fargo account. It was crazy. These people are professional. Who would do something like this?”
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The Surfside condo fell in the early morning hours of June 24. Though the cause of the collapse remains unclear, Surfside Vice Mayor Tina Paul previously toldThe Washington Postthat the building had passed inspection just a day before the June 24 collapse.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said that engineers will investigate the cause of the collapse, but that answers might take time. “You’re not gonna have those answers immediately, but I know that they are going to be working diligently to do that,” he said following the building’s collapse.
source: people.com
