Osvaldo Batista, 39, accused of stealing
customers' credit card information
A finance manager at Kendall Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram was
arrested Thursday after stealing customers' credit card information to make
high-end purchases, police said.
Osvaldo Batista, 39,
faces charges of organized fraud, credit card fraud, white collar crime and
identity fraud.
According to police,
detectives with Miami-Dade police's Economic Crimes Bureau linked Batista to a
string of fraudulent transactions after they were contacted by a department
store.
According to an arrest
report, between June 5 and just this past Sunday, Batista made 25 phone
purchases using more than 20 credit cards at Saks Fifth Avenue in Dadeland Mall
for a total of $51,284.11.
Detectives said
Batista illegally obtained some of the credit card information from customers
of the car dealership.
The general manager of
the dealership told Local 10 News that he was shocked when police arrived to
take Batista away and said Batista was fired on the spot.
"I was shocked
when they arrested them," Hector Collado said. "I had no idea what it
was about when they took him away until this morning. This morning I was
absolutely shocked."
Collado said he wasn't
aware of any customers who had been affected, but said he would do everything
he could to make things right.
Detectives said they
searched Batista's home Thursday and found documentation linking him to
fraudulent purchases. About $5,000 in new merchandise was also discovered at
his home.
Police said Batista
purchased "high-end clothing and miscellaneous items" with victims'
credit card information.
