Woman Accused Of Stealing Part Of Dead Cousin's Life Insurance Payout

By Kate Jacobson, Sun Sentinel

Tribune Content Agency

March 06--A Lake Worth woman was arrested Tuesday after deputies said she stole $100,000 from her dead cousin's life insurance payout, according to an arrest report.

Lillian Barris, 38, is accused of stealing the money after her cousin's grieving mother told her to look after the insurance payout while she buried her son in Bolivia.

According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Barris' cousin died in 2013. He, at some point, served in the U.S. Army and had a $400,000 life insurance policy payout that was awarded to his mother after his death. The mother asked her cousin, Barris, to help her make sure the exchange went smoothly because she did not speak a lot of English.

While the mother was in Bolivia at her son's funeral, Barris wrote two checks that totaled $100,000 for her own use, deputies said.

Barris went to a Chase Bank branch to discuss the account for an unknown reason in November 2013 deputies said. She met an employee, Juan Cardona-Marinez, who told her she should invest the money in real estate to turn a profit.

At some point, Barris handed over two checks to Cardona-Marinez, identified in the report as a co-defendant, with a forged signature. Cardona-Marinez cashed them at various Wells Fargo Bank branches in Palm Beach County, according to the report. He opened a separate account to put the money in, deputies said.

In December 2013, Barris joined her cousin's mother in Bolivia and told her that somehow the $100,000 had been lost from the account. The mother called the bank, who confirmed the money had been taken out of the account, and launched an investigation.

Records show investigators were able to recover about $70,000 that had been withdrawn from Cardona-Marinez's account. The missing $30,000 was taken out through cash withdrawals by Cardona-Marinez.

Deputies said is unclear whether any of the money stolen was used for real estate transactions.

Both are charged with grand theft, while Barris is also charged with forgery.

She was released from the Palm Beach County Jail Wednesday. Cardona-Marinez remains at large.

kjacobson@sunsentinel.com, 561-243-6547 or Twitter @katejacobson

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