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Florida resident Rosemary Doherty had an $8,000 limit on her credit card. One of the last purchases charged to the card was two plane tickets to Pennsylvania. Hillsborough County sheriff’s detectives became involved when they discovered that the cardholder had died a few months before the tickets were purchased.
That investigation led to another investigation: investigators began looking into just who had been using Thomas Doherty’s credit card to purchase things like concert tickets? Thomas had been dead for over 16 years.
The trail led to Chelalee Menchacha Balerio, a former professional wrestler and resident of Thonotosassa. Balerio, whose wife was a friend of Rosemary’s daughter, befriended the old lady and convinced her to assign him power of attorney over her estate. After her death, he told the relatives that he would take care of the business of canceling her credit cards. Instead, he used the cards, and applied for new ones using post office box addresses in Carrollwood and Brandon. At least $11,000 was charged to the accounts in the dead couple’s names.
Investigation disclosed that Balerio has at least three aliases. One of his three driver’s licenses is issued to “Nighthawk.” All three of Balerio’s identities were jailed and await trial.
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