MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – 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.
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of Batista's is asked to call detectives at 305-994-1000.
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