Cypress woman accused of using Craigslist ad to get investors for fake real estate company, HPD says

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A 32-year-old woman from Cypress was arrested after allegedly tricking victims she lured through Craigslist into investing in a phony real estate company, according to the Houston Police Department.

Sycira Ortiz-Coronado was arrested and charged with aggregate theft after allegedly stealing $10,500 worth of Apple products.

On Monday, at about 2:30 p.m., Ortiz-Coronado was pulled over by police after a manager at Conn's Appliance store reportedly recognized her coming in with multiple people.

Investigators said Ortiz-Coronado posted an ad on Craigslist about an investment opportunity from Nov. 4, 2022, through Jan. 30, 2023.

Court documents show she met her victims at the Galleria Mall and convinced them to open a line of credit at Best Buy and Conn's Appliance store, saying she would run a credit report on the person to see if they qualified to invest.

The victims were told to donate the Apple products they were persuaded to purchase to Covenant House, a nonprofit organization.

The deal was that the "investors" would get their money back, and the Covenant House would allegedly get a tax write-off. Neither of these happened, and court records show the organization never received any donations.

Apple computer products were purchased under the victims' names, including AirPods headphones, iPads, MacBook laptops, and Apple Pencil styluses, and Ortiz-Coronado reportedly kept all the goods for herself.

Charging documents say Ortiz-Coronado drove some of her victims to the stores to purchase these items. In the last instance, the manager recognized her suspiciously coming into the store with multiple people who would purchase many products.

The manager at Conn's Appliance store then called the police, leading to her arrest on Monday, according to court documents.