May 9, 2008 6:00 pm US/Eastern
Marina Employee Accused Of Stealing Gas
VIRGINIA KEY (CBS4) ―
The Miami Marina on Virginia Key is the focus on an investigation of alleged gasoline fraud. A marina employee is accused of stealing gasoline he charged to customers.
Pedro Pey, was arrested on organized fraud charges. He is accused of charging customers at the marina for more gas than was actually pumped and then pocketing the difference. Police said Pey's fraud could permeate the Miami Marina.
They believe he was also stealing and reselling gas customers had paid for, but had not received.
The scope of the gas scam could be immense according to Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, who received a tip that led to the investigation.
"They look at six days," said Sarnoff.
"They only looked at six days and were able to log thousands of stolen gallons."
Pey was just a yard worker at the city owned marina. He was not in a position to process credit card billings or cash customer's checks, but was simply a "pump jockey."
Sources told CBS4's Gary Nelson Pey was a small player in a
large organized fraud. Officially, police will only say the investigation is ongoing.
"Internal affairs hasn't gone into everything they're looking into, but certainly they're looking at the records, looking at the records with city auditors, so we can determine just how extensive this is," explained Miami police spokesman Delrish Moss.
At the marina Friday, a manager wasn't in the mood to answer an obvious question:
"Who was minding the store here while thousands of gallons of gasoline were being ripped off?" Nelson asked.
The manager answered: " Well, any questions have to go to the city of Miami public relations"
"Obviously I'm disappointed, I feel cheated," explained George Baran a marina customer. "I just hope they find whoever is responsible and punish them accordingly."
The investigation continues.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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