Miami-Dade Home Depot manager arrested in multi-million markdown fraud, deputies say

The manager of a Miami-Dade Home Depot store has been arrested in a years-long fraud scheme involving merchandise markdowns that cost the home improvement company millions, authorities said.

Mauricio Jimenez, 48, of Hialeah, was arrested Tuesday on charges of grand theft over $100,000 and organized fraud of $50,000 or more, Miami-Dade jail records showed.

According to an arrest report, Jimenez was the manager of the Home Depot at 7899 West Flagler Street and had previously worked at the store at 13895 West Okeechobee Road.

Because of his position, Jimenez had the authority to approve price adjustments including markdowns and had access to internal sales and inventory systems.

The investigation began after Home Depot’s Assurance & Advisory Management Program members discovered a high markdown order staged at Jimenez’s previous store.

Home Depot observed multiple similar transactions with Jimenez involving “highly excessive” markdowns for repeat customers, the report said.

The transactions involved unusually large markdowns applied to merchandise sold in bulk quantities to certain businesses including items like power tools and in-sink garbage disposals, the report said.

The high markdown activity had ended at the previous store when Jimenez left and picked up when he started working at the West Flagler Street location, the report said.

Investigators uncovered that from December 2023 to April 2026, Jimenez was involved in no fewer than 4,500 separate orders involving unauthorized markdowns, the report said.

The transactions were structured to avoid internal detection thresholds, the report said.

The total gross sales involving the unauthorized markdowns were around $55 million, and due to markdowns of about $24 million, the net sales were around $30 million, the report said.

A negative sales margin of -$4.3 million was calculated for the transactions, indicating that not only was no money made on the sales, but they cost Home Depot over $4 million, the report said.

“The defendant engaged in a deliberate, ongoing, and sophisticated scheme to defraud the Home Depot over a period of approximately two and one-half years, resulting in substantial financial loss,” the report said. “As a result of the defendant’s scheme into these sales, he exceeded his sales goals resulting in being compensated by Home Depot with larger bonuses.”

Jimenez was arrested at the store and booked into jail. He appeared before a judge on Wednesday who set his bond at $15,000 and ordered him to stay away from the store.