"They're stealing from dead people": Houston trio under investigation for deed scheme
Houston crime: Three accused of transferring deeds from deceased victims
Records accuse a woman and a mother-son duo of transferring deeds of deceased victims between multiple LLC's before selling the property off to an unaware buyer. FOX 26's Abigail Dye spoke with multiple people who were caught up in the alleged scheme.
"Who would steal from the dead?"
What we know:
HOUSTON - One woman is charged, and two more people are under investigation concerning theft of houses by fraudulently transferring deeds, according to Harris County District Attorney records.
Liliana Valadez is charged with theft. Records accuse her of working with a mother-son duo to transfer deeds of deceased victims between multiple LLC's before selling the property off to an unaware buyer.
The mother-son duo are not yet officially charged, and we will refrain from naming them until they are.
A pioneer woman home buyer
The victims:
One of those deceased victims, according to documents, is Suzanne Donisi.
"She would be so mad. She was a very independent, strong-willed-driven type of woman," said her brother, Art Donisi.
Suzanne's brother says she bought a house in Montrose in 1976. She was one of the first single women to buy a home due to it not being legal previous to 1974.
"She was one of the first," said Art.
He says Suzanne was put in a care facility battling dementia, and in December 2023, she passed.
Records show that in June, months before her passing, the deed to her Montrose home was transferred to Midtown Partners LLC. But Art says the signature on the deed transfer isn't Suzanne's real signature.
Even the notary whose stamp was used says she's never seen the document.
"I was baffled, I hadn't been a notary since the 90's, 2025 years ago," she said.
That deed wasn't filed in the system until April 2024 and was transferred that year to Sierra Capitol LLC, according to records.
How it's costing others millions
Dig deeper:
Records show that in July 2024, the deed was then transferred to Mazzarino Construction.
"She had passed, but they created this document, backdated it, then filed it after she passed," said Cris Feldman, the attorney representing Art in a civil suit to re-gain ownership of the property.
"We thought everything was on the up and up and a week after closing we heard there was an investigation on one of the properties we bought. It was complete and utter shock," said Richard Mazzarino.
He's a developer in Houston and says he's bought hundreds of properties before. He is currently cooperating with the investigation and civil suit filed by Art to regain the property.
"They're stealing from dead people," he said.
The bungalow sold for $320,000 , according to records. The records say a second property was stolen and sold in the same way by the same trio, targeting another deceased victim.
The records say the trio have made more than $328,000 in proceeds doing this.
Mazzarino says he bought another property from the same seller, making the total properties stolen and sold in this manner at least three. Between fees and separate costs pertaining to acquiring the properties, Mazzarino says this is costing his company big.
"Right now we're out over 1.5 million dollars," he said.
All the while, Art says he hasn't seen a dime.
"This is no different from someone robbing a bank, just doing it with pen and paper," said Feldman.
The Harris County District Attorney's Office sent this statement in regard to the case:
"Our HCDAO investigators have worked this case for nearly eight months. The defendants’ elaborate scheme stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from innocent people, through fraudulent and unauthorized sales of properties."
The suspect
The backstory:
Records show that Valadez was charged on March 5th and posted her $100,000 bond the next day.
Records show that in 2022, Valadez faced a similar charge and was accused of deceiving a mentally disabled person to transfer a deed to her. The charge was dismissed due to lack of evidence, according to records.
Valadez's next court date is set for April 17th.
The Source: Harris County District Court and civil records, family member Art Donisi, Attorney Cris Feldman and developer Richard Mazzarino