SQUATTER IS ALSO A ‘WORM’
Model ‘took over sick man’s life’
The squatter who refuses to leave a $2 million Queens mansion wormed his way into the estate by cozying up to its former owner, an ailing wristwatch executive whom he used to live a glamourous lifestyle and then left to die alone, a source close to the late landlord claimed.
Brett Flores first moved to the city from Los Angeles in 2019 to work as a caretaker for Bernard Fernandez, a onetime executive for watch giant E. Gluck Corp., who was suffering from brain bleeding and was in the early stages of dementia, the source said.
The ailments made him an easy target for Flores, who soon forced other people out of the elderly man’s life as he got himself a $3,000-aweek salary and started being seen at wild parties when he was supposed to be acting as caregiver, the source claims.
“I started seeing in various social media posts of him wearing really high-end watches that I know belong in the house,” said the source, who said he had known Fernandez for some 20 years and was in a relationship with him when model Flores came into the picture.
“He’s all over social media, hanging out with gay celebrities at nightclubs. That’s not what he was hired for,” the source said. The source said that after Flores’ arrival, his relationship with Fernandez crumbled: “I lost the man that I loved, and I couldn’t do anything to save him.”
Fernandez’s troubles began when he suffered a subdural hematoma in December 2018 and needed around-theclock care.
“[Flores] reached out later in the spring that he was going to be in New York . . . [ and] I met him for lunch,” said the source.
At first, he seemed like a good fit, the source said, and he hired Flores to work in the home.
By July 2020, Flores was hired full time and began staying in the home, according to the source.
A few months later, however, Flores began acting suspiciously.
Flores was captured on security cameras leaving the home in Fernandez’s high-end cars, apparently leaving him alone for hours on end, the source claimed.
That’s when he started seeing Flores partying.
Pushed out
When the source came back to the city in October 2020, Flores managed to get him out of the home and out of Fernandez’s life by obtaining an order of protection.
The court order was signed by Fernandez, and it banned the source from returning to the home or contacting him.
From that point on, “Flores isolated [Fernendez],” and nobody was allowed into the house, including “close friends,” the source claimed.
In the years to follow, the source said, Flores called the cops on him multiple times, with four incidents resulting in arrests.
The source said that after he was forced out of Fernandez’s home, he continued to get calls from hospitals and doctors as he was listed as the emergency contact.
The source claims that on the night of Fernandez’s death in January 2023, he got a call from the hospital saying that neither Flores nor the person who had Fernandez’s power of attorney could be reached.
The person with Fernandez’s power of attorney sold the house to Susana and Joseph Landa in October.
Flores, 32, however, has allegedly refused to vacate.
The Landas said he claims he had an agreement with Fernandez to remain at the property.
The couple has struggled to evict Flores in part because he recently declared bankruptcy.
Reps for Flores did not return requests for comment.