Dorchester woman pleads guilty to overcharging tenants and pocketing their rent money

A Dorchester woman pleaded guilty to carrying out several fraudulent transactions while working for a Boston-based property management company, a scam that officials say included sending tenants to a local barbershop to “pay” their rent.

Stacey Sanchez-Mercedes, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of larceny over $1,200 on Friday, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office said in a press release. She was accused of overcharging tenants and stealing more than $100,000 while working for Alliance Realty.

Members of Alliance Realty’s management team told Boston police last December that a former employee — later identified as Sanchez-Mercedes — committed numerous fraudulent transactions with clients over a one-year period, according to the release. 

Sanchez-Mercedes worked for Alliance Realty for about three years, largely focused on properties in Hyde Park, Dorchester, and Roxbury, the DA’s office said. The realty company terminated her employment on Dec. 2, 2022.

Police detectives later received copies of rental agreements that Sanchez-Mercedes had altered; Alliance Realty reported that Sanchez-Mercedes would overcharge tenants by asking for a $2,000 security deposit, then change the amount to $1,000 and pocket the difference. The DA’s office said she charged fees that Alliance Realty normally didn’t, such as broker fees. 

Sanchez-Mercedes also made fake eviction notices, applied for state rental assistance on tenants’ behalf, and had tenants deposit money into her personal bank account, according to the press release.

Meanwhile, other tenants told Alliance Realty that Sanchez-Mercedes instructed them to take their rent money to a Roslindale barbershop and give it to a man named “George,” who would present them with a paper receipt. Alliance Realty never saw that money, the DA’s office said. 

Judge Margaret Albertson sentenced Sanchez-Mercedes to a two-year continuance without a finding and ordered her to stay away from Alliance Realty and all victims and witnesses, according to the press release. She will return to court on Oct. 10 for a restitution hearing. Her lawyer was not immediately reachable for comment on the outcome.

“This individual took advantage of her position and used an elaborate scheme to fill her pockets with workplace receipts and the hard-earned money of trusting tenants,” Hayden said in a statement. “Like many who have come before [her], she thought she could steal from her workplace and her customers and not get caught. And like many who have come before her, she found out she was very, very wrong.”