Feds: Man accused of laundering money in land theft

The $500,000 deal was signed at Burger King

A man has been arrested on federal money-laundering charges as authorities allege he stole 10 acres of land worth more than a half-million dollars in a posh Broward neighborhood in a deal signed and sealed at a Burger King.

The two swaths of 5-acre vacant land, which are along Southwest 55th Street and Southwest 185 Way in Southwest Ranches, have been owned by a Weston man since 1986.

Now, Leoncio Aguero, of Hialeah, is accused of claiming to be the property owner earlier this year, when he consulted a mortgage broker about using the man’s land at 13100 SW 49th St. in Southwest Ranches, according to the Professional Standards and Compliance Crimes Against Property Unit, which is a team of detectives at the Broward County Property Appraiser’s Office.

The mortgage broker found a lender, Capital Partners Management, to fund the loan and then referred Aguero to Florida Title Closings to finalize the deal.

But authorities say he slipped up: He had created a company as the entity that would be the borrower, but he used his own name by accident as the officer. Aguero told the title company that his nephew filled out the paperwork for the entity incorrectly and he would fix it, they say.

On May 10, he formed a new company, listing the rightful property owner as the sole officer. Two weeks later, he met a mobile closer at a Burger King in Hialeah, where he signed the mortgage documents, gave his thumbprint, and showed a driver’s license with the rightful property owner’s name, but with his photo.

He instructed the money to be wired to his Bank of America account, and he received the mortgage for $515,972.47, authorities say. From there, he spread the money around to accounts at other banks, and withdrew about $80,000 in cash, too, they say.

It was the quick-thinking notary who asked for the fingerprint that helped crack the case, authorities said. Alarms had gone off for her because “she’s never done a closing in a Burger King and the guy insisted on doing it there,” said Mike Fisten, the lead investigator at the property appraiser’s office.

“What is so unfortunate is the people who are allegedly doing this, they are finding out more ways to defraud our Broward County public,” said Marty Kiar, Broward’s property appraiser who created the team of detectives charged with snuffing out deed fraud.

The couple whose land was stolen became aware something was wrong after they received a piece of mail addressed to a business in their name that didn’t exist.

The family’s attorney then ran a search using public records and found that a deed and mortgage had been recorded on the land.

The matter was referred to the Davie Police Department.

Earlier this month, Aguero, 56, was indicted by a federal grand jury.

If convicted, he faces up to 10 years imprisonment.

According to public records, he is being represented by a federal public defender. Defense Attorney Aimee Ferrer could not be reached for comment.