A former Home Depot manager in Florida has been arrested after allegedly orchestrating a long-running scheme that provided repeat customers with unauthorized discounts, costing the company millions of dollars. Mauricio Jimenez, 48, of Hialeah, was taken into custody on April 21 by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and could face charges of organized fraud of $50,000 or more and first-degree grand theft.
The Alleged Fraud Scheme
Jimenez is accused of using “deliberate” and “systematic” fraud tactics to process unauthorized purchases totaling approximately $55 million in merchandise between December 2023 and April 2026. According to an arrest report, the fraudulent transactions affected at least 4,500 separate purchases.
The former manager allegedly issued significant unauthorized discounts to “core customers” over a period of 26 months, which ultimately caused Home Depot to lose around $4.3 million in revenue. Jimenez was also reportedly compensated with larger bonuses based on the increased sales driven by these discounted transactions.
Court Appearance and Defense
During his court appearance on April 22, Jimenez’s attorney, Melissa Ramos, argued that her client did not personally benefit from the fraudulent transactions. “There’s nothing that says that he was receiving any kickbacks, like he was getting any benefit from this,” Ramos told Judge Mindy Glazer.
However, a prosecutor countered that the discounts helped Jimenez increase sales, leading to higher bonuses. “Those discounts cost the company over $4 million, and by increasing his sales using those discounts, he was compensated with larger bonuses,” the prosecutor said.
After reviewing the evidence, Judge Glazer concluded that there was probable cause to proceed with the charges. She noted that Jimenez had been processing unauthorized markdowns for over two years, and that his actions had directly contributed to the company’s significant financial losses.
Investigation and Arrest
The fraud was uncovered when members of the Home Depot Assurance & Advisory Management Program noticed unusually large and high-value markdown orders at a store where Jimenez had worked. Further investigation revealed that Jimenez had authorized multiple suspicious transactions, which could only have been approved by him.
Jimenez’s bond was set at $15,000, and he was ordered to stay away from the Home Depot store located at 7899 West Flagler Street in Miami. Despite having no prior criminal history, Jimenez was held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center but bonded out and was released from custody on April 24.
