Miami-Dade sheriff’s deputies have arrested four people they say were part of a six-figure scheme to steal Bath & Body Works merchandise and resell it. Authorities said the suspects are Lecsi Linet Figueroa-Martinez, 24, of Hialeah; Yosdany Martinez-Bravo, 49, of northwest Miami-Dade; Marlie Rodriguez-Benavides, 35, of Pembroke Pines; and Michel Sanchez-Escanelle, 44, of Hialeah.
The Sheriff’s Office said the probe began after an internal audit at the chain’s store inside the London Square shopping center, near Miami Executive Airport, found an inventory loss of more than $100,000. Surveillance video from September through Thursday allegedly showed Sanchez-Escanelle, a delivery driver, pulling cartons from deliveries and moving them into other vehicles.
Deputies said Figueroa-Martinez collected the goods. On Thursday, detectives followed her from the store to Hialeah and then to Martinez-Bravo’s home, where they said they saw the stolen cartons being unloaded. Deputies also recovered 17 cartons of merchandise and about $140,000 in cash from that home, according to the report.
Rodriguez-Benavides, who arrived during the search, told detectives she bought the candles for $8 each and resold them for $10, according to the report. The items sell for $25 at the store. She also admitted buying about $30,000 in stolen goods over six months, the report says.
Martinez-Bravo and Rodriguez-Benavides each face a count of dealing in stolen property and were released on $7,500 bond. Figueroa-Martinez, held on $60,000 bond, and Sanchez-Escanelle, whose bond had not been set, face multiple counts of cargo theft and dealing in stolen property. Sanchez-Escanelle also faces organized fraud charges. All four were held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Friday afternoon.
