A man who formerly worked as a manager at a Flanigan’s Seafood Bar and Grill in Hallandale Beach is accused of stealing over $33,000 from the restaurant earlier this year.
According to jail records, Orlando Armin Villasmil Noriega, 37, was arrested on Tuesday by Hallandale Beach Police Department officers.
Police claimed Noriega was a manager at the South Florida chain’s facility at 4 N. Federal Highway.
According to the police report, he was in charge of depositing the previous day’s cash proceeds at a neighboring Bank of America when he opened the business each morning.
Police said Noriega opened the eatery on April 18 and took deposits totaling roughly $9,000 in income from the previous two days. According to the claim, surveillance camera saw him exiting the company with the money.
The deposits were never received in the company’s Bank of America account, and the bank discovered no evidence of Noriega attempting to make the deposits, according to investigators.
They claimed Noriega was caught on surveillance camera on April 19 withdrawing a deposit bag holding little more than $5,000. Police stated he was not spotted making a bank deposit.
According to authorities, Noriega worked as the closing manager from April 23 to April 26, where he was in charge of preparing deposits and depositing them in the company’ safe for the next day’s opening manager.
Deposits from those days totaling more than $19,000 were never deposited, according to investigators.
When questioned by authorities about what happened to the money, a witness told investigators that Noriega claimed the deposits were made at nite, according to the report.
Police claimed making nocturnal deposits was not permitted at that Bank of America location, and investigators were unable to uncover surveillance footage of Noriega making the deposits.
They said Noriega was due to work on April 27 but called in ill and informed the company that he was “terminating his employment” with Flanigan’s. He reportedly stated that he was relocating to North Carolina in May.
According to police, Noriega defrauded the company of $33,091.06. The company is now pursuing jail and restitution.
According to records, Noriega is charged with one count of grand theft for more than $20,000 but less than $100,000. He paid a $10,000 bond and was prohibited from returning to any Flanigan’s stores.
As of Wednesday morning, he was no longer classified as an inmate in the Broward County jail.
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