Florida man discovers ex-wife allegedly stole thousands from his elderly parents

ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) — A Cantonment woman is behind bars after allegedly taking advantage of her ex-husband’s parents and stealing thousands of dollars by opening fraudulent credit accounts, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

Samantha Ariel Perea, 36, was charged with grand theft, uttering a false instrument, criminal use of personal ID information and elderly exploitation.

According to the arrest report, her ex-husband said he discovered fraudulent claims to his parents’ accounts and said Perea was “in charge” of the finances and accounts for the family. The victims are aged 71 and 75.

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After separating from Perea, the ex-husband said he gathered and accessed his parents accounts information discovering multiple credit lines through Pen Air Federal Credit Union, Chase, Citi and Capital One. The total charges to the credit accounts ranged from $30,000 to $80,000, according to the arrest report.

Along with the fraudulent credit accounts, Perea allegedly also took military retirement checks, social security checks and VA checks and deposited them into her own account. According to the arrest report, the alleged crimes were committed from July 2021, until June 2022.  

Perea was booked into Escambia County Jail on Dec. 6, on a $32,500 bond, but was released 42 minutes later.