May 12, 2011
Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

VICTIM’S DAUGHTER AND ACCOMPLICE ACCUSED OF EXPLOITING 69-YEAR-OLD DELAND WOMAN

Two women are under arrest after a month-long investigation by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office revealed a systematic scheme to financially exploit a 69-year-old DeLand woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. And one of the persons charged in the crime is the victim’s daughter. In total, the investigation revealed that the victim was taken for about $51,000. The victim’s daughter, 35-year-old Lisa Santini, was arrested Thursday afternoon. Her accused accomplice, 34-year-old Heather Iturri, was arrested earlier this week in Pasco County. And that’s where investigators found some of the property bought with the victim’s funds, including a wide array of furniture, beds, flat screen T.V.s, phones and a pickup truck. Much of the property was seized during a search of Iturri’s residence and brought to Volusia County.

Iturri first met the victim through her daughter, Lisa Santini. The two defendants are friends who were living in adjacent units in New Port Richey, and the victim said she initially trusted Iturri because of her friendship with her daughter. As it turned out, that’s exactly what the duo were counting on. The fraud started with an elaborate tale spun by Iturri about having millions of dollars in bank accounts that supposedly had been frozen by the IRS. Then she asked the victim for money to pay some fees and penalties in order to get her accounts unfrozen. Iturri even showed the victim records of a $10 million bank account that she claimed was hers. She promised that once her accounts were unfrozen, she would give the victim $1 million for her help. Later, Iturri upped the figure, promising to give the victim $2 million. And the victim agreed, giving Iturri a total of $51,375 over a period of a couple of months.

However, Sheriff’s investigator Todd Smith, the lead investigator in the case, later learned that Iturri didn’t have a job or the ability to repay the victim. Instead, she used the victim’s money to finance Wal-Mart spending sprees, hotel stays, rent on her triplex unit and a $600 cable bill. There also were numerous ATM withdrawals and the purchase of furniture, computers and a pickup truck. Even though it was a rental, Iturri also spent some of the money on kitchen cabinets and remodeling of a bathroom. And she said that some of the money also went to paying Santini’s rent as well. When investigator Smith initially confronted Santini, she denied any involvement. However, after being confronted with the evidence against her, Santini admitted that she was in on the scam and had even called her mother to help convince her that Iturri had millions of dollars and would repay the loans. Santini told investigators that she would walk out of the room whenever Iturri got money from the victim in order to give the appearance that she wasn’t involved.

Iturri was arrested on Monday in Pasco County on a warrant charging her with organized fraud. She was brought to Volusia County on Wednesday, where she remains in custody on $20,000 bond. Meanwhile, Santini surrendered herself to investigator Smith in DeLand Thursday afternoon on charges of exploitation of the elderly, grand theft and obtaining property by fraud. She’s being held on $30,000 bond.