Hialeah Home Depot Manager Accused in $4M Fraud
- Miami-Dade deputies arrested former Home Depot manager Mauricio Jimenez, 48, accusing him of running a 28-month markdown scheme at two stores. - Investigators say Jimenez approved at least 4,500 unauthorized discounted orders, cutting about $24 million from $55 million in sales and costing Home Depot $4.3 million. - Prosecutors say the sales inflated his bonuses; a judge set $15,000 bond and barred Home Depot contact. (cbsnews.com)
Mauricio Jimenez, a former Home Depot manager from Hialeah, was arrested after Miami-Dade investigators accused him of a yearslong discount scheme that cost the company $4.3 million. (cbsnews.com) (nbcmiami.com) Investigators say Jimenez, 48, ran the scheme for 28 months, from December 2023 through April 2026, while managing stores on West Okeechobee Road in Hialeah Gardens and later on West Flagler Street in Miami-Dade. (cbsnews.com) (nbcmiami.com) The arrest report says he approved at least 4,500 unauthorized orders totaling about $55 million in merchandise and applied roughly $24 million in markdowns, leaving net sales near $30 million. (local10.com) (nbcmiami.com) Detectives say the discounts were concentrated on a small core of repeat accounts buying bulk items such as power tools and in-sink garbage disposals, the kind of orders often tied to resellers. (local10.com) (nbcmiami.com) Home Depot’s internal Assurance & Advisory Management Program first flagged a high-markdown order at Jimenez’s earlier store, and investigators say the unusual markdown activity dropped there after he left and jumped at his new store after he arrived. (local10.com) (nbcmiami.com) Authorities say the orders were structured to avoid internal detection thresholds and that Jimenez used affiliated businesses, shell companies, or aliases to place orders and receive discounted merchandise. (local10.com) Prosecutors said in bond court that the alleged scheme did not just lower prices for customers; it also boosted Jimenez’s sales totals and led to larger bonuses from Home Depot. (cbsnews.com) His defense attorney, Melissa Ramos, told the judge there was no allegation that he took kickbacks, but Judge Mindy Glazer found probable cause on organized fraud and first-degree grand theft counts. (cbsnews.com) Jimenez was given a $15,000 bond, ordered to stay away from Home Depot, and later bonded out of jail. (cbsnews.com)
