Driving the news: A former billing clerk at Murgado Automotive Group in Miami and her family have been charged with stealing over $1 million from the dealer group through a years-long fraudulent check scheme, reports NBC Miami.
For context: Yuddy Mejias, 51, worked at the luxury dealership (also known as Brickell Motors) since 2013. Starting around 2020, prosecutors say she issued more than 480 fraudulent checks to her husband Miguel Gonzalez, 54, and son Angel Gonzalez, 28.
The alleged scheme worked like this: Mejias would tell customers they had refunds coming, then cut checks under their accounts but make them out to her husband or son. The checks ranged from $1,000 to $3,000.
An anonymous tip in August 2024 triggered an internal investigation that blew the whole thing open.
All three were arrested this week and are being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
What they're saying: "Starting from approximately 2020 they were for $1,000 than $1,500 up to $3,000 a check. Some of these checks were being cashed twice a month, three times a month," Miami Police spokesman Michael Vega told NBC Miami.
Bottom line: The trio faces charges including first-degree grand theft, organized scheme to defraud, and conspiracy. Mejias also caught a felony charge for making false entries in corporate books. Her bond was set at $125,000; her husband and son each got $120,000.
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