Orlando man arrested for using stolen credit cards to buy over $25,000 in merchandise from Gainesville Target

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Rico Martino Michel, 35, of Orlando, is facing nine felony charges after allegedly using stolen credit cards to purchase over $25,000 in iPads, Nintendo Switches, and other merchandise from the Gainesville Target and other stores.

Target’s Loss Prevention Officers (LPO) notified a Gainesville Police Department officer on June 15 that Michel had come into the store several times and purchased “stacks of iPads,” numerous Nintendo Switches, and other Apple and Nintendo products over a two-day period. They believed the purchases were likely fraudulent because Michel bought far more than the typical amount of these products and only purchased two items at a time, although he brought “stacks” of iPads and Switches to the checkout counter; however, he used the same credit card every time, and the name on the card was a female name. The LPOs noted that the technique of keeping purchases under a certain dollar amount is often used in an attempt to avoid the threshold for fraud notifications to the cardholder.

The owner of the card lives in Missouri, and when she was contacted, the detective learned that she had fallen for a scam in which she received a call from someone she believed worked for her bank, and the caller told her there was fraudulent activity on her card, but instead of canceling it, she should mail the card to the bank. She said she was told that she would be reimbursed for the fraudulent activity after the bank received the card. She mailed the card to the bank and stopped monitoring the account.

The card ended up in Michel’s hands, and beginning on June 11, the card was fraudulently used to purchase $26,157.24 in merchandise, with a majority of the purchases at the Gainesville Target. However, other purchases were made in Gainesville at Best Buy, Ross, Burlington, Hibbett Sports, PetSmart, Longhorn Steakhouse, and Walmart, along with stores in Orlando.

Facial recognition software led to the identification of Michel, who has a warrant out of Atlanta for forgery and credit card fraud. Surveillance video from several stores matched photos of Michel from law enforcement databases.

On June 23, the detective learned that Michel was back at Target, and multiple GPD officers and Clark Butler security guards responded to detain Michel. Michel allegedly resisted being placed in handcuffs and tried to run several times; he also allegedly grabbed an officer’s vest in an attempt to take the officer to the ground.

A search incident to arrest reportedly produced credit cards belonging to three more people, and one of the cards had been used to purchase five iPads on June 23.

Detectives are in the process of contacting other victims, and a second victim was contacted in Portage, Michigan. That victim said he fell for the same scam and mailed his card to an address he thought was his bank. The victim provided a list of transactions on the card that matched transactions made at the Gainesville Target. On June 22, a charge of $1,418.07 was made at a Target in Orlando. Additional purchases were reportedly made at the Gainesville Best Buy and Walmart locations.

Post Miranda, Michel reportedly did not explain why he was using other people’s cards to purchase large amounts of merchandise.

Michel, who reportedly told the detective he lives in Orlando and told Court Services he has been in Alachua County for a year but is described as homeless on the arrest report, has been charged with two counts of engaging in a scheme to defraud, grand theft over $20,000, battery on a law enforcement officer, two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, two counts of possession of a stolen credit card, grand theft over $750, and resisting an officer without violence. He has five felony convictions (two violent) and four misdemeanor convictions (non-violent) in Florida, along with one prison sentence. He also has an unspecified criminal history between 2014 and 2026 in California, Georgia, Virginia, and Nevada.

The detective noted that Michel is believed to be a flight risk because he does not live in Gainesville but said he has a girlfriend in Gainesville, he has been back and forth between Gainesville and Orlando recently, he tried to evade arrest, and he knows additional charges are coming.

Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $410,000.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.