Deputies say the store manager used unauthorized markdowns on thousands of bulk orders over more than two years.
MIAMI, Fla. — A Miami-Dade Home Depot manager was arrested Tuesday after deputies said he ran a years-long markdown fraud scheme that cost the company about $4.3 million, using steep discounts on bulk merchandise sold through repeat business accounts at two South Florida stores.
The arrest puts a public face on a case that investigators say grew inside ordinary store systems and sales records, not through a smash-and-grab theft. Deputies accuse Mauricio Jimenez, 48, of Hialeah, of using his authority as a manager to approve markdowns far beyond company limits, helping certain customers buy merchandise at deeply reduced prices while Home Depot absorbed the losses. The case is now moving into the court system as investigators tie the alleged conduct to thousands of transactions and millions of dollars in discounted goods.
According to the arrest affidavit, Jimenez most recently worked at the Home Depot at 7899 W. Flagler St. in west Miami-Dade and had previously managed at the store at 13895 W. Okeechobee Road in Hialeah Gardens. Investigators said questions first surfaced after Home Depot’s internal assurance and advisory team identified what the affidavit described as a high-quantity, high-value order with unusually large markdowns staged at the Hialeah Gardens store. That review led company investigators to look more closely at orders Jimenez handled and the customers tied to them. Deputies said the same pattern later shifted to the Flagler Street store after Jimenez changed locations. In the affidavit, investigators said the markdown activity at the earlier store fell off after he left and then rose sharply at the newer store, a detail they cited as a turning point in the case.
Deputies said Jimenez had authority to approve price adjustments and used that access to apply unauthorized markdowns to merchandise often sold in bulk, including products such as power tools and in-sink garbage disposals. Investigators said many of the sales were made to a small circle of repeat customers and affiliated business accounts, with merchandise bought in quantities more typical of resellers than ordinary retail shoppers. Authorities allege that from December 2023 through April 2026, Jimenez was involved in at least 4,500 unauthorized orders. The affidavit says the gross value of those transactions was about $55 million, but the merchandise was marked down by about $24 million, bringing the net sales figure to roughly $30 million. Even with money still coming in, deputies said the transactions produced a negative sales margin of about $4.3 million for Home Depot. Investigators also said some orders were structured in ways meant to avoid internal detection thresholds.
The affidavit says the activity did not center on random customers walking in off the street. Instead, investigators said Jimenez repeatedly dealt with a core group of accounts and, in some cases, created, registered or used additional business entities, shell companies or aliases to place orders and receive discounted merchandise. Deputies allege the markdowns were sometimes stacked, cutting prices by half or more on certain orders. That detail matters because prosecutors will likely need to show not only that the markdowns broke company policy, but that they were knowingly used as part of a deliberate fraud scheme. Investigators also said Jimenez benefited personally in another way: by boosting store sales enough to exceed sales goals and earn larger bonuses. Home Depot did not immediately comment publicly in the reports available Wednesday, and court records cited by local outlets did not list an attorney for Jimenez at that stage.
Authorities say Jimenez had already been warned before the alleged scheme ended. According to the affidavit, a regional vice president and a district manager questioned him about the markdown-heavy sales and told him not to sell to seven affiliated businesses connected to the suspicious activity. Deputies said he continued the transactions anyway. That allegation could become an important part of the prosecution because it goes to intent and notice. Jimenez was arrested Tuesday, April 21, at the Flagler Street store where he worked. He was booked on charges that include organized fraud of $50,000 or more and first-degree grand theft exceeding $100,000. By Wednesday, he had appeared before a judge, who set bond at $15,000 and ordered him to stay away from the store, according to local reports. A pre-file conference was scheduled for Wednesday, marking the first formal step in a case that may still expand as investigators review records tied to the accounts and companies named in the affidavit.
The allegations describe a white-collar retail fraud case built from spreadsheets, transaction logs and internal warnings rather than a single dramatic incident. Still, the numbers gave the case unusual weight. Deputies said the transactions stretched across roughly two and a half years and involved merchandise worth tens of millions of dollars before markdowns were applied. The locations named in the affidavit sit in busy commercial corridors that serve contractors, small businesses and bulk buyers, making large-volume orders part of normal operations and potentially harder to spot at first. That context helps explain why investigators focused on the pattern of repeat customers, the timing of the orders and the sudden change in markdown activity as Jimenez moved from one store to another. For now, some questions remain open, including whether any customers or business associates will also face charges and whether Home Depot will seek restitution beyond the criminal case.
As of Wednesday, Jimenez remained in the case as the only publicly identified defendant tied to the markdown scheme, and the next visible milestone was the early court process following his arrest. Investigators are expected to keep reviewing transaction records and related business accounts as prosecutors decide how to move the case forward.
Author note: Last updated April 23, 2026.