Police: Woman Stole To Pay For Elective Surgeries
CORAL GABLES ( CBS4) - All she wanted was to look better, but now a South Florida woman is paying the price big time.
Police say she stole someone's identity in order to get surgery.
Maria Pereira was emotional but stayed silent as she was walked out of the Coral Gables Police Department and taken to Miami-Dade County's jail.
Police say she confessed to stealing a man's identity six months ago to pay for her own elective surgery.
Detective Carlos Baixauli of the Coral Gables Police Department is on the case.
"Now we're seeing identity theft where before it was used to purchase high-end luxury vehicles or maybe even commit mortgage fraud, now we're seeing that some of these subjects are trying to finance their own vanity," said Det. Baixauli.
Police say Pereira went online and applied for financing using the victim's information. Once she got the approval, she allegedly sent it to two separate doctor's offices. She is accused of paying for $8,000 worth of surgery with the stolen identity.
Police do not believe Pereira and the victim every knew each other.
Now, 22-year-old Pereira is charged with identity theft and grand theft.
"In other types of crimes, where you commit a crime like identity theft to steal a car or to purchase a property, once you're caught, those items can be returned. These surgical procedures cannot be reversed," said Det. Baixauli.
Now, police say, the two doctors who performed the surgeries will lose the money they were paid. Police don't know if those doctors will ever get that money back.
If convicted, the 22-year-old woman may face time in prison.
