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​District Attorney files theft charges against Pueblo man reportedly involved in rental scheme 

Posted at 6:43 PM, Aug 20, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-21 00:32:33-04

PUEBLO – In June, News 5 Investigates exposed a man accused of taking deposits on a rental home he didn’t own.

A report by Chief Investigative Reporter Eric Ross led to a criminal investigation. Now we’ve learned that theft charges have been filed against Michael Valdez, 45.

Multiple tenants say they paid Valdez a deposit to move into a home in the 2700 block of E. 13th Street in Pueblo. They say Valdez even allowed them to store their property in a shed behind the house prior to moving in. However, when “move-in” day came around, tenants say Valdez disappeared with their money and property. They also learned the home was never for rent.

The small 1-bedroom house was listed on Facebook’s “Marketplace”, but News 5 Investigates uncovered the home belongs to Valdez’ parents, who apparently knew nothing about his alleged business venture to defraud tenants who were searching for affordable housing.

Karen Engman says Valdez swindled her out of a $500 deposit.

“I was working my butt off everyday,” Engman said. “Those were my tips that I had collected for the week. With that money we could have gone and done something fun with the kids that we don’t always have the money to do because we are a single income family of four.”

Engman says Valdez also stole some personal property he allowed her to store in an outdoor shed as the house reportedly awaited an inspection from the city’s building department.

After her move-in date kept getting pushed back, Engman went to go collect her stuff and that’s when she found out it was gone.

“$300 worth of movies and all of my makeup is gone,” she said. “All of my boxes were labeled and he knew. He specifically went through certain boxes.”

Joanne Santistevan is another victim who claims she gave Valdez a $1,000 deposit to move into the same home around the same time Engman was supposed to move in.

“I asked when I could move in and he said there was an issue with housing—that there was a plumbing problem that housing didn’t approve but it would be good to go in the next couple of days,” she said.

Soon after, Valdez cut off communication and that’s when Santistevan did some research she admits she should have done from the start. She found a telephone number for Valdez’ parents and Valdez apparently was not happy when she called them.

“I was threatened,” she said. “He told me that if I ever went to his Mom and Dad again, he knows I live alone and that he would be paying me a visit one of these nights and that I would be sorry.”

News 5 Investigates found other victims on Facebook and at first, police had written the matter off as “civil”. After we started asking questions about the case, police determined the matter was criminal in nature and launched an investigation.

Engman says police apologized for the misunderstanding.

“He (the officer) said ‘I’m so sorry, this was never a civil matter to begin with—this should have been criminal.'”

After reviewing the case, the DA’s Office charged Valdez with 1 count of felony theft and 1 count of misdemeanor theft.

Valdez remains in the Pueblo County Jail as he awaits his next court date on Oct. 1.

If you have a problem or issue you’d like News 5 Investigates to look into, please send an email to News5Investigates@KOAA.com.