A former Home Depot manager in Florida is now at the center of a jaw-dropping fraud case after investigators say he handed out massive unauthorized discounts—costing the company millions.
Mauricio Jimenez, 48, of Hialeah, was arrested April 21 by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office. Authorities say he could face serious charges, including organized fraud over $50,000 and first-degree grand theft.
According to investigators, this wasn’t a one-time mistake—it was allegedly a long-running scheme.
Officials claim Jimenez used “deliberate” and “systematic” tactics to approve unauthorized discounts on at least 4,500 purchases between December 2023 and April 2026. In total, those transactions reportedly involved around $55 million worth of merchandise.
So how much did the company actually lose? Prosecutors say about $4.3 million.
During a court appearance, Jimenez’s attorney argued there’s no evidence he personally pocketed money from the deals.
“There’s nothing that says he was getting kickbacks,” his lawyer told the judge. “It just says he was issuing discounts.”
But prosecutors pushed back, saying the bigger picture tells a different story. By inflating sales numbers with those steep discounts, Jimenez allegedly earned larger bonuses from the company.
The judge reviewing the case didn’t hold back.
“So he was basically selling items half off to ‘core customers’ repeatedly—for 26 months,” Judge Mindy Glazer said while going over the arrest documents.
Investigators say internal teams at Home Depot first spotted something unusual—a high-value order with deep markdowns. That discovery led to a deeper review, where they found multiple suspicious transactions that only Jimenez had the authority to approve.
That’s when the red flags really started piling up.
Despite having no prior criminal record, Jimenez was hit with a $15,000 bond and ordered to stay away from the Home Depot location on West Flagler Street tied to the case.
He was initially held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center but has since bonded out and been released.