A former employee of a Miami luxury car dealership, along with her husband and son, has been charged with orchestrating a fraud scheme that allegedly siphoned off over $1 million from the business. Yuddy Mejias, 51, formerly a billing clerk at Murgado Automotive Group, also known as Brickell Motors, has been implicated in this scheme, according to NBC Miami.
Mejias, who had worked at the dealership since 2013, is accused of issuing more than 480 checks to her husband Miguel Gonzalez, 54, and son Angel Gonzalez, 28, over a period beginning around 2020. The checks, ranging from $1,000 to $3,000, were purportedly meant for customer refunds, but were instead made out to her family members. "You would go in as a customer, you would buy a vehicle, and she would say 'you have a refund coming to you' for let’s say $1,000. And she would make out a check under your account but it was going to the name of her husband or her son," Miami Police spokesman Michael Vega told NBC Miami.
The scheme was uncovered following an anonymous tip received by the company in August 2024, which led to an internal investigation. As detailed in an arrest warrant cited by Local 10, Mejias had manipulated the dealer’s accounting system to conceal the fraudulent activity by changing accounting entries after issuing the checks.
Following the investigation, authorities arrested the trio yesterday. They all now face charges of first-degree grand theft, organized scheme to defraud, and conspiracy to commit organized scheme to fraud. Additionally, Mejias faces a felony charge for making a false entry in a corporation's books. Court records show Mejias' bond was set at $125,000, while her husband and son's bonds were both set at $120,000; all were being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
