A 78-year-old senior woman lost her $350,000 New York home after her neighbor’s 35-year-old daughter’s ‘counterfeiting act’.

A 35-year-old New York woman has been arrested for forging deeds seizing the ownership of an elderly woman’s home.

Aurelia Soogea, 35, appeared in court in Nassau County, Long Island on Friday, pleading not guilty to forgery and theft charges.

She is accused of paying $10 to transfer the deed of her mother’s neighbor’s $350,000 house to her name.

The owner, 78-year-old Rosemarie Mika, claims to have been informed of the deed transfer in a letter from Nassau County officials.

Mika then called the police.

Rosemarie Mika, 78 (left) accused Aurelia Soogea, 35, of forging documents and stealing her home

Home in Lakeview, Long Island Worth $350,000

The deed was handed over to Soogea on October 11, and Mika claims to have learned of it thanks to a letter informing her. increase

Soogea’s attorney Lawrence Cara said. NBC New York Mika gave Sugia a house as a present.

“We have been fighting hard and have filed a plea of ​​not guilty,” he said.

“She served and stayed there from time to time as a caring and loving aide.”

Carra said there was “conflicting evidence” that “Soogea did not forge the deeds.”

Soogea said she recorded a conversation between her and Mika confirming the move of the house.

She also provided a sticker from her visit to the courthouse on the day the deed was signed, claiming Micah was there and willingly handed over the property.

Mika’s attorney said Soogea’s documents and audio recordings were fabricated.

Soogea is scheduled to appear in court next Thursday.

Accusations of deed forgery are common throughout the United States.

In May 2022, a Georgia man was indicted for stealing six properties across North Carolina.

Isiah Robert Louise Baskins, Jr., of Macon, Georgia, used the names and addresses of six people and another person’s Social Security card to forge deeds between December 2018 and September 2019. was accused as

Soogea is seen with her attorney, Lawrence Carra. It is said that Sugia was given Mika’s house in gratitude for taking care of her.

He is said to have presented forged documents in the deed register to transfer the property to him.

The case continues.

In December, a California-based woman, Shaneika Seymore, was arrested on suspicion of forging false non-smoking certificates to sell real estate across Memphis she didn’t own.

That same month, New York Attorney General Letitia James accused five alleged deed thieves of stealing three homes from elderly homeowners in Jamaica and St Albans, Queens. announced the indictment.

According to the indictment, the defendants used forged driver licenses and Social Security cards to impersonate the homeowner and closed the property with forged signatures on deeds and documents.

“You shouldn’t have to face the nightmare of having your home stolen without any warning, knowledge or reason,” James said in a statement accompanying the announcement of the charges.

“Deed theft is a brutal crime that targets wealthy, cash-poor, elderly people and often people of color who rely on their homes as a stabilizing force for their families and loved ones.”