Man charged after he allegedly stole $32,000 from elderly woman he was supposed to be helping

IDAHO FALLS — An Idaho Falls man was arrested and charged after he allegedly stole more than $32,000 from an 88-year-old woman he was taking care of.

Ignacio Soriano III, 49, was charged with felony grand larceny and felony grand theft.

Soriano faces up to 28 years in prison if he is found guilty.

According to the court documents, on April 16, an officer with the Idaho Falls Police Department was contacted over a fraud report.

The report was from a 51-year-old woman who was a friend of the 88-year-old victim. The friend told the officer that Soriano had been helping the victim since 2023 and that he had stolen about $32,245 from the older woman.

The friend alleges that Soriano did this by writing checks to himself and getting a debit card from the victim’s bank account without her knowledge.

The officer spoke with the victim and the friend, saying Soriano knew the friend and had helped her with yard work. The friend had an elderly family member she was already helping, and Soriano said he could help take care of the victim.

Soriano began to help the victim in May 2023, according to court documents.

It wasn’t till April 15 that the victim’s utilities were turned off. The friend and the victim discovered that the checks sent to pay for the utilities had begun to bounce since the fall.

Court documents detail the victim’s bank statements in 2023.The victim had an average balance of $5,000 every month. By December of that year, it had decreased to a balance of $1,074.80. At the end of December 2024, her balance was -$45 and had reached its maximum overdraft limit.

The officer said that between November 2023 and June 2024, multiple checks were made out to Soriano each month, totaling $14,647.

A debit card was issued in June 2024 and used until March 2025. The officer said none of the money was ever used to pay the victim’s bills. The total amount spent using the card was about $17,600.

Many of the transactions that were used with the debit card were at WinCo Foods and a liquor store. The victim does not drink, according to court documents.

There were also wire transfers made one of Soriano’s family members, who had also cashed some of the checks made out to him.

On April 17, the officer contacted Soriano and asked him how he knew the victim. He said he helped to take care of her by running errands.

When asked if he got compensated, Soriano said he used to get checks, but he doesn’t now since he had a card. He said he keeps the card with him and uses it at the store, and in case she doesn’t have money, he uses his disability money to help her out.

The officer asked Soriano if he had a checkbook, but said he didn’t. He told the officer he had checks he never cashed and gave them to the officer, along with the debit card and the victim’s medical card.

The checks Soriano never cashed that were to him totaled $3,058, and one to the City of Idaho Falls was for $600.

When asked about the checks made out to him for the hundreds of dollars, he told the officer he never wrote those checks out.

The document states Soriano told the officer the victim doesn’t remember a lot and it’s “not my fault,” when asked about the debit card.

The officer told Soriano he was going to request a warrant for him, and Soriano became concerned if he was going to be arrested. He told the officer that he had medical issues and had been drinking the past few years.

He told the officer if anything was done, he doesn’t remember, but had used the card for personal use. However, he denied ever writing checks for himself.

As the officer finished speaking with Soriano, the victim’s friend called the officer that someone had left a box inside the victim’s home which contained a used check book in it. The woman told the officer she believes it was Soriano as he is the other person with the key to the victim’s home.

The officer later got a call from Soriano, again expressing concern of getting arrested, and that his family members don’t know about this. The officer asked the man if he had been to the victim’s home, and he said no. He still denied writing checks out to himself.

The officer had the victim write her and Soriano’s names on the back of checks and compared them with those on the bank statements. He said it was hard to tell, but asked the victim’s friend for better quality copies.

Soriano is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 1 p.m. June 13 before Magistrate Judge Tawnya Rawlings.

Though Soriano has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.