MIAMI-DADE, Fla. – Three people have been arrested for orchestrating a sophisticated gift card fraud scheme that hit multiple Winn-Dixie stores in South Florida and financed a luxury Carnival cruise, according to authorities.
The suspects — Beatriz Paz-Roca (66), Rogerio Da Cunha-Fernandes (45), and Aida Parada Lapaz (43) — now face charges of organized scheme to defraud and grand theft.
The arrests were carried out by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Organized Retail Crimes Squad, in collaboration with Winn-Dixie investigators.
According to the arrest reports, the group targeted Winn-Dixie locations across Miami-Dade and Collier counties, including stores in Doral and northwest Miami-Dade.
The suspects exploited a flaw in the store’s payment system using contactless payment and a modified Banco De Credito De Bolivia Visa card that caused merchant terminals to time out after multiple failed attempts. When this happens, the system reportedly writes off the transaction as a loss after three tries.
This loophole allowed the group to obtain thousands of dollars’ worth of gift cards from various stores.
The fraudulently obtained gift cards were then used for purchases at major retailers like Apple, Amazon, Macy’s, and TJ Maxx, and even for booking a 4-day Carnival cruise.
In a dramatic twist, two of the suspects were apprehended aboard the cruise ship while it was docked at PortMiami.
All three individuals were booked into jail. A judge granted each a $10,000 bond, though two suspects are under immigration holds and remain in custody.
