A Miami-Dade man and woman ended their four-day Carnival cruise in handcuffs after authorities said they used fraudulently obtained Winn-Dixie gift cards to pay for the trip.
Deputies arrested Rogerio da Cunha Fernandes, 45, and Aida Parada la Paz, 43, at PortMiami on Monday morning as they disembarked from the Carnival Sunrise. A third suspect, Beatriz Paz-Roca, 66, was arrested later that day outside a Winn-Dixie in Doral after she allegedly committed another act of fraud.
Investigators said all three suspects live together in a home just outside Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood. Their arrest reports did not clarify if or how they are related. According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, da Cunha Fernandes and Parada la Paz profited about $18,000 from the scheme, while Paz-Roca took in around $12,000.
Authorities said the trio purchased gift cards for major retailers by using an “altered” Bolivian bank card that triggered errors in Winn-Dixie’s payment system, leaving the supermarket chain to absorb the loss. Deputies linked the suspects to about 230 fraudulent transactions.
Investigators discovered through social media that da Cunha Fernandes and Parada la Paz had boarded the Carnival Sunrise on Thursday. They reportedly booked the cruise on July 26 with fraudulent Winn-Dixie gift cards purchased the previous day. When the ship docked at PortMiami, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents conducted a search and found the altered bank card on da Cunha Fernandes, along with several fraudulently purchased gift cards on both suspects.
Meanwhile, deputies kept Paz-Roca under surveillance at the trio’s home. They followed her to the Winn-Dixie at 10505 NW 41st Street in Doral, where they said she used the same scheme to buy a $150 Amazon gift card. Detectives stopped her as she returned to her car and arrested her shortly after 12:30 p.m.
All three suspects now face charges of grand theft with others and participation in an organized scheme to defraud. Jail records show da Cunha Fernandes, a Brazilian national, and Parada la Paz, a Bolivian national, are each being held on a $10,000 bond and an immigration hold. Paz-Roca, also a Bolivian national, was assigned the same bond but has no immigration hold. All three remain in custody at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Leave a Reply