Lauderhill Police officer Brian Louis Sguros was arrested Tuesday and accused of fraud and falsifying official documents after allegedly taking over Dennis Ionis West’s home. West was found dead inside his front entrance on July 11, 2022, after a neighbor had not seen the 71-year-old in more than a week.
The case centers on a South Florida house West owned and a paper trail that investigators say let Sguros control the property for years. Sguros later said he spent more than $214,000 renovating it, and the work pushed its value to about $500,000.
Dennis Ionis West home
Sguros was one of two officers who responded to the welfare check at West’s home on July 11, 2022. He told the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office that he had been friends with West and said he would arrange a funeral service if no family members were found.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office said Sguros represented himself as West’s friend and said West had no living family. West’s death was ruled natural and caused by cardiovascular disease.
West identity records
Investigators say Sguros took over possession of the house on Aug. 1 without legal authority and later admitted that in a sworn court document. They also say he used West’s identity to get permits for an $8,000 project to replace windows and doors, with paperwork listing West as the living owner and including West’s driver’s license and signature.
The construction company hired for the work believed West was alive because of those documents. Paperwork also appeared to show West had appeared before a notary in August 2024, but the notary denied knowing about the documents and denied that the signature and stamp were hers.
Broward Sheriff’s Office search
The Broward Sheriff’s Office said Sguros used his department-issued computer to search West’s name several times and used those searches to obtain West’s DMV and Social Security records. The case came to light after Equinox Realty Holding approached with West’s rightful heirs, and Sguros agreed to hand over the keys.
In February 2026, Sguros filed a civil lawsuit seeking reimbursement for the work he says he put into the property. The arrest leaves the fraud case and the reimbursement claim on separate tracks, with the property now back in the hands of West’s rightful owners.
