$14,000 Shopping Spree Lands 4 in Jail

Four South Florida men are in hot water after Sarasota County Sheriff’s deputies say their recent shopping sprees at the Mall at University Town Center drew attention from security officers.

It seems two of the men were seen making numerous purchases with several different credit cards one day last week. Thinking something was amiss, mall security notified the sheriff’s office of the suspected criminal activity.

Sarasota detectives began poking into the purchases, an email from the agency stated, and discovered that Capital One Bank had deemed the transactions fraudulent. On Tuesday, June 23, the men returned to the mall with two others along with them. Detectives watched as the four split up to shop separately and used various credit cards to make purchases. After buying items, the men would return to a vehicle parked in the lot to stow the items in the trunk, the email noted.

It was in the parking lot that deputies approached the men and conducted a search of their wallets and vehicle. That search turned up 23 credit cards that did have the men’s names embossed on the front, but account numbers that didn’t match the encoded financial institution information on the back strip, the email said.

All told, deputies estimate the men purchased more than $14,000 worth of gift cards and items during their two-day spree.

Ricardy Multidor, 25, of Miami, Shnyder Rouzar, 22, of Pompano Beach, Vladimir Saint-Hilaire, 27, of Miami, and Mickenson Desir, 26, of North Miami Beach, were all charged with a single count of trafficking counterfeit credit cards. They were being held in lieu of $25,000 bond each at the Sarasota County Jail. More charges are pending.

Photos of Ricardy Multidor, Shnyder Rouzar, Vladimir Saint-Hilaire and Mickenson Desir courtesy of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.