Coral Gables Clerk Used Smartphone to Steal $85K: Police

CORAL GABLES, FL — A 61-year-old former clerk for the city of Coral Gables is accused of using her smartphone to steal money from the city. Migdalia Ruiz has been charged with allegedly depositing more than $85,000 in taxpayer money into her own bank account. City officials said she is suspected of stealing a total of 331 checks meant for the city over a two-year period.

Ruiz of the 2100 block of West Flagler Street in Miami is charged with organized fraud and related offenses. She is scheduled to face trial on July 10. (Sign up for our free Daily Newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Coral Gables-Coconut Grove Patch.)

"She was clicking on her phone the checks, depositing it into her account although they were written to the city of Coral Gables," explained Coral Gables City Manger Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark in an interview with Local 10 News.

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Investigators said Ruiz "abruptly resigned" from her city job in August of 2016 after having worked for the city since November of 2004. Her ending annual salary with the city was $46,493.

She was hired as Migdalia Mejia but underwent two name changes while she worked for the city: The first was Migdalia Velez in November of 2010 and the second was Migdalia Ruiz in May of 2015.

According to court documents, the city became suspicious when Suntrust Bank returned a $619.17 check in May of 2016, saying the check had already been cashed. Suntrust said that the funds were deposited into a TD Bank account that was not owned by the city. Coral Gables was later notified that a second check for $61 had also been deposited into a TD bank account. A third check soon turned up in the same way.

Investigators subsequently discovered that Ruiz had allegedly deposited 77 checks into her TD bank account using a smartphone app. Those checks totaled $18,444.97. But when investigators looked further, they found another 254 checks that had also allegedly been misappropriated by Ruiz, amounting to another $66,809.68 in misappropriated city funds.

The dates of the checks range from October 2014 to just before Ruiz left her job in August of 2016, according to court records.

Investigators also discovered an interesting fact about Ruiz: She changed her name in May of 2015 from Migdalia Velez to Migdalia Ruiz. The TD bank account was opened in August of 2014 under the old name of Velez.

It was not clear what identification Ruiz provided to the city in 2004 when she got her job in the finance department.

According to court documents, all city checks arrive in the mail room where they are placed in a bin for the finance department.

"Migdalia Ruiz was responsible for false alarms and multiple alarm payments," court documents state, referring to fees the city collects related to burglar alarms. "She would receive the checks and credit the payment to the proper account showing payment received. At the end of the work day, each employee would prepare a report based on the accounts they processed that day."

It was possible for someone in Ruiz' position to "write off," or make "adjustments" in each account showing payment received, documents state.

For example, a person with her authority might receive 10 checks on a given day as an arbitrary number, but only process five. They would would simply list only the five checks that they turned in on their daily report while hiding the others that were pocketed, according to investigators.

Ruiz' direct supervisor told investigators that Ruiz was able to "clear out the accounts as she saw fit." and at the end of the work day, would prepare a report based on the accounts she processed that day. "That is how the supervisor would track the employee' s productivity and accounts payable," court documents state.

Investigators said Ruiz didn't make any extravagant purchases "just routine, miscellaneous everyday expenses."

Photo of Migdalia Ruiz courtesy of Coral Gables Police Department