SURFSIDE, Fla. — A man from the Chicago area who’s apparently notorious for traveling the country to sell counterfeit watches took his scam to South Florida in 2025, authorities said. One year later, he’s now back to face a fraud charge.
Michael Milke, 28, of Cicero, Illinois, was picked up in Springfield, Tennessee on Wednesday and taken back to South Florida. He was locked up in the Robertson County Jail after a conviction for selling fake items.
According to police, Milke was in Surfside on Jan. 2, 2025.
According to an arrest warrant, he went to Gray and Sons Jewelers at 9595 Harding Ave. and sold them what they thought was a genuine pre-owned Rolex GMT-Master II watch for $11,000.
But the next day, authorities said an analyst with Anne Arundel County police in Maryland contacted the shop’s owner to let him know that Milke is a “known fraud subject who sells counterfeit watches,” the warrant states.
The shop owner then called police. The Maryland analyst would later tell Surfside investigators that Milke “is linked to several cases throughout the U.S. regarding fraudulent Rolex watches.”
The warrant states that Milke has been linked to multiple known cases. One was in St. Petersburg, while others were in Michigan, Maryland, Texas and Tennessee.
Back in South Florida, Milke was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $100,000 bond Thursday for a charge of organized scheme to defraud.
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
