By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-17 20:22:05 | Updated at 2024-11-25 03:48:12
1 week ago
A Florida woman was arrested after attempting to file for hurricane relief using her mother's name and claiming she looked younger because of Botox, according to police.
Veronica Torres, 44, was arrested Friday on a charge of filing a false public assistance claim, a third-degree felony, the Bradenton Police Department said.
She schemed to use her mother's name, driver's license and social security information to apply for the City of Bradenton's Hurricane Disaster Assistance Program.
Hurricane Helen and Hurricane Milton swept through Manatee County - where Bradenton is located - over the span of 13 days and caused an estimated $65.6 million in damages, reported the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
According to police, Torres claimed she was forced to move out of her home because of the storms.
Her request for approximately $7,967 was approved, but when she went to pick up her check on Thursday a city employee was startled by the difference in her appearance on the application.
The employee questioned why Torres looked younger than the woman in the identification provided on the assistance application.
'Her explanation of “botox treatments” failed to convince the employee,' police said.
Veronica Torres (pictured), 44, was arrested Friday after attempting to file for hurricane relief using her mother's name and claiming she looked younger because of Botox
Hurricane Helen and Hurricane Milton swept through Manatee County - where Bradenton (pictured) is located - over the span of 13 days
Torres was asked to come pick up the check the following day and when she came for the second time police questioned her.
She was arrested and then released after posting $2,500 bond, according to records obtained by NBC News.
Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton most recently struck the Sunshine State, killing hundreds of people and destroying thousands of homes and businesses through a record-breaking August to October period.
Insurance experts told DailyMail.com that premiums have sky-rocketed in recent weeks, prompting many lifelong residents to contemplate moving out of state for the first time.
A Tampa couple were left devastated to learn their insurance company denied their flood claim because their living room is classified as a basement.
Food waters rushed through Jaime Giangrande-Holcom's family home and ruined everything in the living room when Hurricane Helene hit the Sunshine State in September.
The extensive damage prompted her and her husband to file a claim through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
However, an insurance adjuster said the three-and-a-half inch 'step down' from the entrance to the living room means the area is technically classified as "basement," and therefore not included in their coverage.
Torres claimed she was forced to move out of her home because of the storms which caused an estimated $65.6 million in damages in Manatee County
'It's ridiculous. To even come out and say the word "basement" in the state of Florida is comical,' Jaime told WFLA.
Jaime and her husband had paid $3,800 for flood insurance this year through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The NFIP defines a basement as any area of a building with a floor that is below ground level on all sides, according to its website.
It consider rooms that are not fully below ground level - such as sunken living rooms - as basements, because the lowest floor is below ground on all sides.
However, Jaime hopes the measurements of her house will prove the living room is not below ground level and therefore not a basement.
