Miami-Dade pastor accused of stealing money, home belonging to elderly couple

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A Miami-Dade preacher has been accused of preying on an elderly couple in her congregation, allegedly stealing their life savings and their home.

That woman, 63-year-old Yvonne Hampton-Barley, is already out of jail.

She is accused of befriending the couple and using her position as a church pastor in an deceptive scheme to steal from them.

State records show Barley is the operator of True Spirit of Christ Our Redeemer Ministries, a church that on paper is run out of a home-like structure in Opa-locka, something that came as a surprise to neighbors.

“She’s still renovating it,” said neighbor Chantel Reid. “I’ve been here almost five years now and it’s never been open.”

Part of the fraud allegations involves a piece of property the couple in their late 80s owns, located inside of a gated residential community in northeast Miami-Dade County.

Investigators say Barley illegally transferred ownership of the home from the couple that suffers from dementia to her own name in 2018, making her the sole beneficiary if and when the pair died. They’d known one another for ten years.

Prosecutors say Barley, the so-called church pastor, also made herself power of attorney, listing herself on the victim’s bank accounts and retirement funds that police say would go to Barley’s Miami Gardens address.