A 49-year-old Cuban woman, identified as April García, although calling herself “Rebeca,” used an office in Hialeah Garderns, Fla., as a cover for “an alleged furniture store” that scammed dozens of customers in late December after making upfront payments for a had requested a “furniture sale” which never took place.
Miami-based TV station AmericaTeVe revealed several interviews with victims of the scam, who asserted they paid thousands of dollars in cash to the alleged “Rebeca,” the furniture store owner.
Through a defunct Facebook page, the Cuban woman offered furniture on sale ranging from “$600 to $1,000,” a bargain many Hialeah residents, mostly Cubans, didn’t want to miss. What they never imagined is that it would be a scam.
“It was said that there was an offer where the furniture would be much cheaper and that’s why, like many other customers, we came here to make the purchase,” explained Leonel Fernández, a victim of the scam.
Another, Erick Marrero, added that he “bought a room set on December 23 for $2,650 and it said it was delivered between 5am and 8am yesterday and he didn’t answer the phone, he answered me last time on Monday and that everything would be fine and dandy has already been cheated here”.
“She is very persuasive, her words are believed because she tells you with great humility that I beg you that everything will be fine, that everything will happen, and it’s a lie, it was a lie,” he added Maydelín Cuesta, another scammer.
SAME “MODUS OPERANDI”: HE HAD ALREADY CHEATED IN 2019
As the Miami news channel revealed, April García was indicted in a similar act back in 2019, on charges of “organized fraud and grand theft.” On that occasion, he scammed 29 people for $167,000 using the same “modus operandi” of a furniture sale through Facebook.
“They are shameless, $1,000 in a fourth game, they brought it to me on Saturday and on Saturday they call me that they brought it to me on Wednesday or yesterday Tuesday and nothing, that’s shameless,” insisted Lázaro Rivero, another scammer.
“They wanted to take it on Saturday and they couldn’t and that after Wednesday so I called this morning and there is no call, there is no way to communicate with them and I came here and now it is so far closed,” said fraud victim Miriam Mesa.
According to AmericaTeVe, the facts are being investigated by police, but it hasn’t said if the Cuban scammer has already been arrested.