* beware of josefa melendez (josie) of miami florida * (official conartist)
Josefa Melendez (AKA Josie) has been able to con regular people out of alot of money and if no one stops her, she will continue to do so. I was able to locate and contact her sister and at this point, it did not surprise me that she said that Josefa is a con artist and that her and her family are tired of it. She advised me that Josefa Melendez has been doing this for a few years now... She cons regular people from their hard earned money.
My story started in whereas I thought it would be a good idea to look into buying some distressed properties as investment.in speaking with various people about my actions of working on real-estate investments, I met an individual which told me that he had just met a person who claims to have worked in the county as well as works with real estate investors to coordinate and maximize their profits by taking care of any renovations needed to the distressed property as well as works to make sure all leans, taxes and zoning issues were cleared on such a property. So, I was like... That's great! The more work I can delegate, the better... I work full-time in a corporation, I have a family and I own a small business on the side; so my time was valuable to me. So he gave me her number and I got in contact with her.
Gaining my Confidence:
Immediately over the phone she came off as a person very willing to help and very friendly. She also told me that she was a mother of four kids and that she has been in the real-estate business for a very long time whereas she had experience enough and many contacts to get everything to run on auto pilot. I was happy to hear all of this because she made me feel comfortable that she was a grounded, family person with experience... So I thought.
How I was going to save money by giving her money:
I invited her over to my house to meet my wife and to discuss things in detail. After meeting her, my wife, having the sixth sense that she does, said that this lady struck her as a bit shady. I on the other hand believed everything she was advising. So, she stated that I was paying too much taxes in my property and that there are processes other than Homestead Exemption that can help relieve property taxes... She claimed that legally she could reduce my personal house's property taxes by half and that for $2500 I would have this tax relief for the next 4 years... At first I was like, I have never heard of a thing... But because she was soooo munipulative and convincing in her argument, I accepted her argument because I said to myself, "hey, if this is what she does, she must know what she is talking about." She told me, leave it all up to me... You have a very beautiful family and you should rely on people that work in this business for a living. I was like, right on... Big weight off of my shoulders and I am sure that this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship. She told me, write me a check for only $1000 and in a month I will collect the other $1500... Your tax relief should reflect on your escrow through your bank by the end of the year, whereas your Mortgage company will receive the new statement and will make payment for the required amount and will send you the remaining balance. I said, cool... This lady knows her stuff... I wrote her a check and she gave me and my wife a hug and comment one last time on how beautiful our daughter was.
Share the benefits w others:
Because I always publicly talk about my endeavors with my family and friends. I advised them that I was in the process of buying investment properties and how easy it was going to be for me because I already had a person that I could count on that was able to strategize the best ways to make sure that there were no leans on the property, that any renovation was done and knew everything about how to maximize savings in your home finances.in a short period of time I was caught in the middle of having my friends interested in doing business with her and hiring her to do some due diligence and help them with their own homes and investments.
Reassure, Secure, yet suspicious:
I began dealing with her in the spring of 2007. She would call me and talk to me as if I was her best friend. She would call me and reassure me that everything was going well and that she had filed all of the paperwork needed and that she had been contacted by a friend of mine and that she was helping that person and then another person that he had recommended to her.in time I would sometimes ask her, hey let me get a copy of the paperwork filed or what is the exact date that I should look for these changes... She would manipulate the conversation either by changing it, saying that she had to go or using some argument whereas I could not question her because she has been doing this for a long time.
Excuses, excuses, excuses... Raised concern:
When people that I knew wanted to contact her or I would need to ask her something of relavence... She would come up with excuses that made one feel sorry for her and made the important questions and demands take a backseat. Some of these excuses were:
1. Daughter split wrist in Palm Hospital
2. She said her license was suspended a few months ago and didn't have a car... She then shows up a couple months later with a Kia car at my house with leather and claims that the dent in the front was from her recently hitting a garbage can that knocked a pregnant lady over causing the lady to lose her baby. She said that she saved the girl by giving her CPR, but the lady lost the baby. Ironically, she also claimed to have owned the car for a couple of years (whereas it showed inconsistency with what she had mentioned previosly that she did not have a car a few months ago).
3. She was in a car rental a few months before.
4. She says that her car insurance is cancelling her because of the accident.
5. Her son past away.
All of these excuses, may they be true events or not... Enabled her to always have a way to avoid or belittle peoples need to get answers to their questions and requesting to know why results that she promised were not happening.
To the point of non-belief:
When I received the bill sent to my Mortgage company for the property taxes, I noticed there had been no change to the previous year. I then contacted her to confront her with it. She advised, "it must be a mistake... Let me take a look at it and I will follow up with it". I was weary and no longer interested in any excuses. Until the day after I get a text message stating that Josie's son had past away in a car accident that same week... I was not sure whether to believe that or not... Imagine, a person being at the point that they don't even believe a death in the family. I then asked where is the funeral going to be? Her sister and husband grabbed her phone book and text and contacted all of her contacts advising that the funeral was going to be at Bernardo Garcia 12050 SW 117 Ave at 1pm for her son Adrian Jesus Parada. I was still thinking, can this just be a whole con? I attended the funeral and there was really an urn and they advised that he had been incinerated. There was a room full of people crying and of course, there was Josie... She was crying and said she did not know how she was ever going to recover from her loss. She hugged me and thanked me for going. I saw her mother and kids and said ok, this is a tragedy. I believe this. And felt bad for her and her family.
Disappearing act:
After her son past away at the end of October, Josie put a recorded message on her voicemail stating that her son had just recently died and to have some simpathy whereas not to bother her, give her some space and that she would get back to answering the phone at the end of November. Oh well, it is what it is and we should give her her space. Everyone that expected results promised by Josefa Melendez were waiting for the issues to be resolved; she did nothing that she promised... Nothing.
December came about, she said that she had been sick and that she is not stable and is going crazy. She claimed to be on meds and that she would still come through with what she promised... To give her time. I told her that no one believed this fluff anymore and to just return everyone's money... She got defensive, claimed that her brother was in a gang that she would get him to take care of business if she was bothered again and hung up. Never again did she return a call or answer anyone of the people that gave her any money.
That I know of, here are the amounts that she took from some of the people:
1. $2500 (me) - For property tax relief filing and monitoring
2. $4000 (a realtor woman) - For Property Renovations
3. $3000 (friend 1) - For Government Grant Filing and monitoring
4. $6000 (friend 2) - For Property Tax Relief Filing and Monitoring
5. $3000 (friend 3) - For Property Tax Relief Filing and Monitoring (2 homes)
6. $3000 (friend 2's Boss) - For Property Tax Relief Filing and Monitoring
7. $2500 (friend 2's Co-worker) - For Property Tax Relief Filing and Monitoring
All of services she claimed to render: Section 8 Filing, Property Taxes Reduction Filing, Interior Designing, Home Rennovations, Clear Leins and Titles
February:
I had saved the text of the message where her sister texted me the address of the death of her son. I decided to contact her. She advised me that her sister is an official Con-Artist and that her family was tired of it. Her own sister claims that Josefa should go to jail, because you just don't steal people's hard earned money. She claims that Josefa Melendez has been doing this to many people for the last 3 or 4 years. Josefa Melendez has also conned her family members and she will continue to do this unless someone stops her indefinitely.
Her brother called me to advise that he was no gang member and that he is also tired of Josefa's lies and cons. He advised me that Josefa conned a co-worker of his out of $50,000 and that this is the last draw. He advised that you don't take people's hard earned money and that he was available for anything that he could do.
How do I stop her?
She probably has already wasted that money... How can she pay for this?
Can she be put in jail/prison?
Where do I go from here?
Her name: Josefa "Josie" Melendez
Her current address is: 6795 SW 132 AVE UNIT 201 MIAMI FLORIDA 33183
Current type of car she drives: Red/Wine Kia Sportage
Phone Numbers: 7867150690 / 3053875283 / 7867154589
DL# M453-420-64-914-0 EXP. 11/14/11
Husband name is: "Rigo"
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