A Florida officer who found a dead man during a welfare check is accused of using his identity to take over his home for years

A Lauderhill, Florida, police officer faces accusations of using a dead man’s identity to claim the man’s home, years after a welfare check led him to the body. According to People, Brian Louis Sguros, who is 35, was taken into custody Tuesday after the Broward County sheriff’s office investigated. He faces five felony charges and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Officials stated that the charges include official misconduct. The remaining counts involve using a deceased person’s identification, using personal identifying details, committing a computer offense and unlawfully using a communications device. According to the sheriff’s office release, Sguros found Dennis West, 71, dead inside the man’s house while checking on him in 2022.

The sheriff’s office alleges that Sguros told the county medical examiner he was a friend of West and falsely stated that no relatives survived him. Investigators found no indication the two men knew each other. They also allege he searched police databases for West’s Social Security number and birth date.

Renovation reimbursement claim led to the investigation

Authorities allege Sguros covered West’s tax and utility payments, used West’s identification to obtain a city repair permit and forged West’s signature on the paperwork. He faces an allegation that he filed documents placing his ownership of the home within weeks of West’s death. He also stated that he cleaned, secured and fixed up the home after taking charge of it.

West’s legal heirs learned of the alleged deception through probate proceedings, and Equinox Realty Holdings, a property firm, bought the home from them. After an employee came to take possession, Sguros reportedly gave up the keys yet asked to be repaid for his work. In sworn court documents, he stated that he put $214,000 or more into repairs, raising the home’s value to about $500,000.

Sguros then filed a civil complaint seeking over $200,000, and the company’s lawyer alerted Lauderhill police, which opened the investigation. The arrest affidavit states that Sguros took over the house, citing hazardous conditions and a wish to deter squatters and crime.

Lauderhill’s police chief, Constance Stanley, addressed the case in a statement, explaining that the department’s officers pledge to protect the city’s people. Broward County Property Appraiser Marty Kiar, whose office took part in the investigation, described the case as troubling because the officer is charged with abusing his post to defraud people.

Sguros has been with the department since March 2021. He was first suspended with pay during the investigation and is now on unpaid administrative leave. A judge set his bond at $25,000 at a hearing Wednesday, and the investigation remains open. Similar accusations against public workers have surfaced elsewhere, such as a case involving a Pennsylvania welfare supervisor accused of EBT theft.