By Minyvonne Burke - NBC News
Three people were arrested and charged with stealing the identities of seven victims of an apartment building collapse in Surfside, Florida, and spending about $ 45,000 on unauthorized purchases, according to authorities.
Police were first alerted to the plot in July, some 16 days after the Champlain Towers South building was partially destroyed, when the sister of a deceased victim reported that she had requested replacement credit cards to be sent in the name of the victim to a new address.
["Can someone help me out, please?" The first calls to 911 come to light after the collapse of the building in Miami]
The woman also reported "multiple" unauthorized wire transfers that were initiated from the victim's account to other accounts, as well as various fraudulent purchases, state attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle explained in a press conference Wednesday.
An investigation concluded that the suspects were targeting five victims who died and two who survived.
The suspects were identified as Betsy Alexandra Cacho Medina, Rodney Choute and Kimberly Michelle Johnson.
Among the charges they are charged are those of an organized scheme to defraud, identity theft, credit card trafficking and use of fictitious identification.
Bail was set at $ 1 million for Medina, $ 500,000 for Johnson, and $ 430,000 for Choute.
It was unclear if they had hired lawyers.
The suspects are accused of using the victims' information to make exorbitant purchases, including the purchase of a $ 374 pair of sandals at Nordstrom, according to Rundle.
One of the suspects also bought a Versace bag valued at $ 1,658.50, he alleged.
[Authorities recover belongings of Surfside victims. But returning them to relatives will be difficult]
Rundle explained at the press conference that the woman who bought the bag was later seen on surveillance video of the mall making a $ 2,500 purchase at Bloomingdale's.
Video played at the press conference revealed the woman carrying the Versace bag while shopping for what appear to be three pairs of shoes.
Search and rescue personnel remove debris from the Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, Florida, Friday, July 2, 2021.AP Photo / Mark Humphrey
Police obtained video from a security camera connecting one of the suspects to a vehicle that was registered in an apartment.
Rundle said the apartment was vacant and the suspects were using it as a "delivery location" to receive mail while hiding their real addresses.
[A law repealed a decade ago may have sped up the repair of the Surfside building, experts say]
"These individuals appear to be very skilled identity thieves. They are professionals," Rundle said.
"Except for their names, almost nothing else about them appears to be true," he added, claiming that all three had Social Security cards with their names and fake Social Security numbers.
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Between July 7 and 9, the suspects attempted 28 transactions using the victims' information.
In total, they stole at least $ 45,000 and attempted to steal an additional $ 65,000, but the transactions were rejected by security and theft prevention programs.
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The suspects also targeted other victims unrelated to the building collapse, according to the investigation.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the crimes were "abhorrent."
"I am very, very grateful that this great team is bringing these people to justice and helping to restore peace and tranquility to those who have already been so harmed by this tragic building collapse," she said.