MIAMI – Nearly 19 months after two victims in Texas and Arkansas reported losing a total of $34,000 in fraudulent bank transfers, authorities have arrested Chanel Roberts, 23, in Miami.
According to investigators, the victims reported the thefts to the Prairie Grove Police Department in Arkansas and the Fort Worth Police Department in Texas, following suspicious transfers from Chase to Regions Bank accounts in 2023.
The key transactions included:
A $19,000 transfer on August 15, 2023
A $15,000 transfer on the same day, both directed to an account Roberts later closed on September 1, 2023
Roberts was arrested at 3:20 p.m. on Monday at a three-bedroom home on Northwest 57th Street near 11th Avenue in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood.
In an interview with the Miami Police Department’s financial crimes unit, Roberts voluntarily spoke without an attorney present. She stated she had opened a Regions Bank account briefly in 2023 while working at Burger King.
Roberts had no prior arrest record in Miami-Dade County. She was booked at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center shortly after 7:35 p.m.
On Tuesday, Miami-Dade prosecutors charged Roberts with organized fraud and grand theft. A judge set her bond at $7,500 and ordered her to stay away from the victims.
County Circuit Judge Jason Bloch is assigned to oversee the case.
