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A 76-year-old woman was arrested this Tuesday by the Miami Police, accused of that her 87-year-old friend had entrusted to her for safekeeping during a hospitalization, according to court records.
Zonia Beatriz Reategui, a resident of North Miami Beach, faces charges of third-degree aggravated robbery, trafficking in stolen goods, and forgery of ownership documents in pawn transactions, reported news outlets.
The victim, who cannot drive, depended on Reategui—her friend for about 20 years—to take her to her medical appointments.
On December 9, 2025, Reategui took the elderly woman to a hospital to receive treatment for a condition affecting her foot.
Before the victim was admitted, Reategui offered to keep her bracelets safe to prevent them from being lost during her hospitalization, and the elderly woman agreed.
Days later, upon being discharged from the hospital, the elderly woman asked her friend to return the jewelry.
Reategui began to make excuses: first he said he was traveling to Peru and would return them later; then, over the following weeks, he offered multiple pretexts before telling him that the jewels had been "stolen" from his home.
According to the investigators, Reategui asked the victim not to inform her family and promised to reimburse her, but he never fulfilled his promise.
After reviewing the records of a pawn shop, the police investigation revealed that bracelets matching those of the elderly woman had been pawned on December 9 and 20, 2025, for $500 each. The items were identified through photographs and the unique design of their charms, and were placed in custody.
During a recorded interview with the police, Reategui admitted to having pawned the jewelry and confirmed that he never retrieved it.
The accused appeared in court this Wednesday. Judge Mindy Glazer ordered her to have no contact of any kind and to stay away from the victim, setting bail for her.
This type of case is not isolated in south Florida. Scams targeting the elderly and disabled individuals are quite common.
In a similar case reported last week, a woman and her son faced charges in Miami for exploiting an elderly woman. Last December, the police arrested a fake contractor from Hialeah accused of defrauding an 85-year-old woman, and in Miami-Dade, a former Bank of America employee was arrested for stealing over half a million dollars from a woman with a disability.
National statistics indicate that 90% of cases of financial abuse of the elderly involve family members or trusted acquaintances, not strangers.
In 2023, the total reported losses by victims aged 60 and older due to financial exploitation exceeded $3.4 billion across the United States, according to FBI data cited by the Florida Senate.
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