A man accused of plotting a scheme to defraud a retired nurse in Miami Shores by pretending to be her nephew and her doctor was arrested on Monday, authorities said.
Lyne Bien-Aime, 55, is facing several charges, including exploitation of an elderly/disabled person, unlawfully filing false documents, and scheme to defraud.
Lyne Bien-Aime
According to Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, the victim was a 71-year-old retired nurse who had a health episode that left her with a cognitive impairment that needed constant care.
Bien-Aime previously encountered the victim through associations with her church.
Part of the scheme, Fernandez said, involved Bien-Aime presenting himself as the victim’s nephew when he dealt with medical authorities.
Bien-Aime also called the victim’s family in New York and told them that he was a doctor and was going to monitor her care.
While the victim stayed at a rehabilitation hospital, Bien-Aime made the victim sign several legal documents, which include a power of attorney that allowed him to empty her life savings from several bank accounts, Fernandez said.
He also used those documents to keep the victim from spending the last days of her life at the Miami Shores she owned and was instead kept at Bien-Aime’s home in secret.
Bien-Aime kept stealing from the victim and even fraudulently transferred her home into his name.
The money from the victim’s savings and the home were supposed to go to her disabled adult daughter after the victim passed away.
The victim was eventually taken to New York by her family, where she stayed until her death on Dec. 16, 2022.