MIAMI — A Miami man is facing several felony charges after police said he was involved in an illegal, rigged street gambling game in the downtown area that led victims to lose thousands of dollars.
Police arrested Jordan Alexander Bustillo, 20, on Wednesday.
Arrest reports from the Miami Police Department state that two victims reported the scam to police after losing money on April 30 and May 14, respectively.
One arrest report describes the scheme as a “three-card monte” scam, though it did not involve cards. Instead, authorities described it as a confidence trick involving cups and a ball, akin to a shell game.
In one case, Bustillo was described as working as an accomplice to a man only known as “Bank Roller.” In another, Bustillo is described as the “primary operator” of the scheme.
In the April 30 case, authorities said Bustillo and “Bank Roller” were posted up at the corner of Northeast Fifth Street and Biscayne Boulevard and convinced a victim to bet $4,000 on the unwinnable game.
Police said after the victim learned from a friend that Bustillo was a known scammer in the downtown and Brickell areas, the man asked for his money back. According to an arrest report, Bustillo refused and left.
In the May 14 case, police said Bustillo scammed another victim outside of the Crosby Hotel at 11 NW Sixth St., during the late evening hours.
Authorities said a group of four scammers, including Bustillo, called the victim and his girlfriend over to play and they did.
The victim and his girlfriend “approached the group and (she) pointed to a cup, stating that she believed the ball was underneath it,” the report states, at which point Bustillo encouraged her to place a bet. She placed a $100 bet and selected the correct cup, police said. Meanwhile, the report states that one of the other men placed a $4,000 bet and “lost.”
She “commented that he should have picked a different cup,” the report states. Police said after telling her boyfriend which cup she believed had the ball, he bet $2,000 and lost. He then bet $2,000 again and lost a second time.
The report states that Bustillo “offered the victim another round, stating that if the victim bet his Rolex watch and lost, (Bustillo) would keep the watch; however, if the victim won, (Bustillo) would pay him $15,000.”
“At that time, (Bustillo) turned his head away and one of the other males lifted a cup and showed the victim what appeared to be the location of the ball,” an MPD detective wrote. “Believing he knew the correct cup, the victim removed his rolex watch, handed it to (Bustillo) and selected a cup. (Bustillo) confirmed with the victim that he was certain of his choice, to which (he) responded affirmatively.”
But police said when lifted the cup, the ball wasn’t there and the victim lost. Police said the victim tried to speak with Bustillo to “work with him,” but Bustillo took the $7,000 watch and left.
Police said they later found Bustillo with two other men leaving a home in the city’s Allapattah neighborhood on Wednesday and pulled them over after they got into a car.
Authorities said Bustillo had a bag with him containing more than $17,000.
A search of the home, located in the 1100 block of Northwest 38th Street, revealed four iPhones, four “high-end watches” and jewelry, police said.
Authorities said in Bustillo’s room, investigators found a stolen Glock pistol and nearly $17,000 more in cash. Police said he declined to speak with investigators without an attorney.
Records show that Bustillo, facing seven felony charges, including grand theft, organized scheme to defraud and obtaining property by gaming, was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with a bond listed as “to be set.”
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