A New York City investigator was caught red-handed after he was filmed stealing nearly $500 and jewelry from a dead man’s apartment.
The investigator from the Bronx public administrator’s office, Felix R. Conde, was responsible for accounting for the assets of William Figueroa, 71, when the latter died alone in his apartment on December 5. The 62-year-old civil servant had to collect the valuables of the deceased, who did not have a will, and take them to the public administration office.
However, the latter would have rather pocketed certain objects instead of placing them in the transparent evidence bags, according to a video obtained by the New York Post. Mr. Conde allegedly admitted to taking $492, a chain and a ring, because “there were simply no plastic bags at that time.”
Bronx Public Administrator Matilde Sanchez assured that the items were recorded in the tracking system. “In this particular case, he did not follow the procedures,” she said.
Felix R. Conde resigned after the video was exposed at the Bronx Office of Public Administration.
However, the deceased’s niece, Elizabeth Ayala, 63, does not agree. “It wasn’t $400 – he had more. Willie had enough money to bury himself… maybe $8,000 for someone to bury him,” she noted.
She also launched a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe in order to offer her uncle “a dignified funeral”.
