A Lexington woman has been on the run from local and federal authorities for months, accused of living lavishly by stealing hundreds of thousands from others.
Financial crimes detectives were on a first name basis with 28-year old Yarelis Rios – a frequent flyer, police say – who spent a lot of her time in Lexington defrauding others.
In late 2013, when police and federal authorities opened up their biggest case yet, Rios went off the grid.
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“At this point, we’re ready to move on the case, get her in custody, so we can continue with prosecution,” said Detective Eric Hobson.
Detectives first got onto her around 2010 when she was the apartment manager at Thoroughbred Crossing Apartments, where they say she’d stolen about $40,000 over the years, keeping a small portion of nearly 200 renters’ monthly rent checks.
“That actually led to another investigation of her house,” Hobson said.
And it was like opening up Pandora’s box, say police, who then found $50,000 in power tools, high-end furniture, luxury cars, clothing, jewelry, flat screen TV’s, and the home itself valued at nearly half a million dollars.
Police say Rios was living large on that $40,000 a year salary. And a file, tucked away nicely in her home office, laid out exactly how she made ends meet.
“She would steal social security numbers, most likely from her tenants, and file false tax returns. And, at points, we determined she was gaining $40,000 a month in these false tax returns.”
Life on the run, isn’t likely as lavish. But police say it’s time for Rios to pay up.
If you have any information about where Rios may be, Crime Stoppers is willing to pay for it. Give their tipline a call at 253-2020.
