A South Florida woman who says she was the victim of an affordable housing scam is speaking out as three suspects have been arrested in the case.
Haydee Gutierrez says she was promised an expedited application process for acquiring Section 8 housing but was defrauded.
"What they offered me was to move my application from the bottom of the pile to the top of the pile," Gutierrez told NBC 6 in Spanish Monday.
Gutierrez said she paid three women $3,000, thinking it was a standard application fee that went to the public housing department. After about a year, Gutierrez realized it was a hoax, and she never received her Section 8 voucher.
Miami-Dade Police last week arrested 74-year-old Manuela Leonor Levy, 60-year-old Azalia Isabel Garcia, and 57-year-old Aurora Mercedes Gomez on organized scheme to defraud charges.
An arrest report shows the women took thousands of dollars from multiple victims between October 2015 and July 2017, by telling them they had a friend who worked to Section 8 housing. Police said none of the women were employed by a government housing agency.
Police said they're still searching for more victims.
