St. Pete police close down unlicensed assisted living facility

ST. PETERSBURG — An unlicensed assisted living facility was shut down by the St. Petersburg Police Department on Tuesday morning after its owner was arrested on fraud charges.

The owner, Maria Matos Infante, 43, faces charges on 16 counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, eight counts of fraudulent use of personal information and six counts of operating an assisted living facility without a license.

Infante has operated Access Adult Family Care Home since at least 2013, police spokesman Mike Puetz said. Located at 2895 38th Ave. N, the facility was licensed at one time, but the license has since lapsed.

At the time of the arrest, six people were living in the facility. All are in good medical condition.

Detectives began their investigation in June after the daughter of a former tenant found fraudulent charges on her mother's credit card account. Her mother died in May.

Puetz said detectives have found more than $5,000 in fraudulent credit card charges so far. It is unclear whether assisted living patients were also credit card fraud victims. There are at least 10 victims of identity theft or credit card fraud. Objects purchased include gift cards, food and home goods.

Infante's boyfriend, Delvis Hernandez Reyes, 41, was arrested earlier this year in Sarasota County on similar charges.

On Tuesday morning, family members of the facility's residents rushed to the house to pick up their loved ones. Jorge Vidal, 84, whose daughter lived in the home, was shocked by the news. He visited his daughter almost every day and had met Infante many times.

"The way she handled her business, it's hard for me to believe that she was involved in this," Vidal said. "She looks like a very nice person."

Vidal said the facility was clean and treated his daughter well. As a vegetarian, she needed special meals arranged and they always accommodated her.

Infante is from Cuba, and her business attracted residents of Spanish descent. Luis Gurrero arrived Tuesday to pick up his father, who hails from Cuba and discovered the facility through "word of mouth." He enjoyed the Spanish meals, according to his son.

Gurrero was previously unaware that Infante had been involved in credit card fraud.

"If she did that, she'll pay for it," Gurrero said.

Neighbors at the scene watched in disbelief. Scott Wads­worth, 45, lives across the street with his family but did not know the home operated as an assisted living facility.

"I've seen people in and out of there all the time," Wadsworth said. "It didn't look like assisted living."

Detectives are still investigating how far the fraud scheme reaches and whether anyone else is involved.

"We're figuring out how big a tentacle this thing has," Puetz said. "How far does this go?"

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.