Violet Evelyn Alberts, a 96-year-old woman from California, was the target of a complex scheme that involved murder-for-hire and a reverse mortgage to gain ownership of her property.
She was found dead in her kitchen. She looked to be preparing to bake her birthday cookies.
Pauline Macareno,48, approached widow Alberts, who was financially precarious and offered to sell her a reverse mortgage on her valued home. Macareno fabricated several papers, including forging documents and establishing bogus corporations, to acquire control of Alberts’ property unlawfully.
Alberts became the target of a murder-for-hire operation once all the documents were put in place. Two individuals, Ricardo MartinDelCampo, 41, and Henry Rostomyan, 33, visited Alberts’s residence to conduct a reconnaissance mission just three days before her body was discovered. The significance of this discovery lies in the premeditated charge of the crime. The criminals made measured attempts to survey Alberts’ home and plot their brutal act.
Martin DelCampo was taken into custody on March 5th, while Rostomyan was taken into custody a month ago. Another man, Harry Basmadjian, 58, was taken into custody in January for his alleged role in the conspiracy. At the time of his arrest, he was being held in federal custody in Los Angeles on a charge unrelated to the murder.
Macareno was subsequently found guilty of fraud in connection with the Alberts case and sentenced to six years in state prison. She is now facing additional pending charges.
The investigation is still underway, and investigators are currently identifying a suspect’s vehicle, reviewing footage from surveillance cameras, and doing forensic analysis of the crime site.
In the Montecito community, Alberts was a well-liked and respected figure.
In 2022, people aged 60 and over reported 88,262 complaints to the Internet Crime Complaint Center of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, resulting in a loss of $3.1 billion. With a total of $624.5 million in reported losses in 2022, the state of California stands out as having the biggest number of senior fraud victims.
