A former Langhorne police officer tried to con a woman out of her more than $500,000 estate by faking a romantic relationship with her for years and tricking her into signing an altered copy of her will, Bucks County prosecutors said Wednesday.
Carlito Cortez, 59, of Richboro, allegedly met the 76-year-old woman in March 2020 while investigating the theft of $25,000 worth of jewelry from her Langhorne home. His investigation stalled and the woman’s rings were never found, but Cortez continued visiting the her regularly over the next three years to make home repairs and gain her trust.
MORE: King of Prussia home designed by renowned architect Richard Neutra hits market for $2.5 million
“It really does not get much worse than this,” Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said at a news conference Wednesday. “The defendant’s actions are the definition of predatory and exploitative.”
At the time Cortez met the woman, he was working as a part-time police officer for both the Yardley Borough and Langhorne police departments, and he also did work as a general contractor on the side. Despite being married, Cortez became close with the woman and she “ended up falling in love” with him, according to a grand jury investigation. Cortez only reciprocated the woman’s affection “when she did things for him,” the grand jury found.
Once Cortez become aware of the woman’s wealth, the former officer was “calculated and charismatic” in his efforts to persuade her to give him control over her assets, Schorn said.
Cortez partially moved into the woman’s home, had her hire one of his mistresses to be her in-home caretaker, and convinced the woman to sign a new will that he disguised as a legal document giving him medical power of attorney over her, prosecutors said.
Carlito Cortez, 59, of Richboro
Cortez told the woman he wanted financial power of attorney to manage her estate, but when the woman refused to make him the executor of her will, he made a plan to deceive her, authorities said.
Cortez allegedly had a friend contact the woman to vouch for him as a trustworthy man, and in late 2022 he presented her with a fraudulent document that he pretended was for medical power of attorney. After signing it, the woman noticed that the printout contained the words “Last Will and Testament,” and Cortez left the home hurriedly without explanation, prosecutors said.
Police began investigating Cortez in 2023 when a concerned neighbor reported frequently seeing his police car parked at the woman’s home, prosecutors said. The neighbor told police the woman had complained about Cortez doing shoddy repairs at the property.
On one occasion, Cortez allegedly changed the locks to the woman’s home and didn’t give her the keys. The neighbor told police she waited with the woman until a locksmith could let her back into the property.
Investigators also discovered that Cortez’s mistress did not have any medical qualifications or a license to be a health aide. That woman — whose affair with Cortez later ended — told the grand jury she had received about $3,000 in payments for her visits to the Langhorne home after Cortez recruited her for the job in 2022.
Cortez was a Yardley police officer from 2013 to 2023. He worked for Langhorne police from 2016 until his resignation in March 2024. Prosecutors said he resigned after Langhorne police executed a search warrant at his Richboro home.
At the property, detectives found legitimate earlier versions of the Langhorne woman’s will. Cortez told investigators the woman had given him the documents, but she and her attorneys testified that she was unaware he had taken them and that he did not have permission to possess them.
When detectives asked Cortez about the fraudulent will he had the woman sign, he allegedly gave inconsistent statements. That copy of the will could not be located, and attorneys for the Langhorne woman told prosecutors the document was not created with her or their input.
“This case is disturbing because somebody in a position of trust and respect in the community, like a police officer, can never exploit that position,” Schorn said. “… It’s a blemish on the profession.”
Cortez was charged Tuesday with criminal attempt to commit theft by deception, securing execution of documents by deception, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, false swearing, perjury and official oppression. He was released on $150 unsecured bail ahead of a preliminary hearing scheduled for May 28, court records show.
