Palm Coast woman accused of using customer credit cards to send money to inmate, Sheriff’s Office reports
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office arrested a second Popeyes employee on October 15 in connection with a scheme to defraud customers at the Palm Coast restaurant location.
Shaunta Johnson, 42, of Palm Coast, was taken into custody by the FCSO Fugitive Apprehension Unit with assistance from the Problem Area Crime Enforcement Unit on an active felony warrant issued earlier in the week.
The Scheme
According to investigators, Johnson and her coworker, Chaniqua Richberg, 49, also of Palm Coast, fraudulently charged customer credit cards while working the drive-thru. Detectives determined that Johnson organized the scheme to make commissary payments to her boyfriend, an inmate at Apalachee Correctional Institution West Unit in Sneads, Florida.
The investigation spanned seven months and was led by the sheriff’s office General Assignment Unit.
Official Statement
Sheriff Rick Staly praised the investigative work and cooperation that led to the arrests.
“Our detectives worked diligently to identify and arrest those responsible for defrauding unsuspecting Popeyes customers,” Staly said. “Thanks to the cooperation of the new owners of Popeyes, we were able to put the missing pieces together and arrest the mastermind in this case, in addition to her associate, and hold them both accountable for their crimes.”
Staly added: “While they won’t be joining ‘friends’ who are already locked up in a prison cell, they are on a fast track to sleeping in a prison cell.”
Charges and Criminal History
Johnson faces multiple felony charges, including organized scheme to defraud, three counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, three counts of unlawful use of a two-way communication device, and three counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information.
She was transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and is being held without bond.
Johnson has an extensive criminal history that includes previous arrests for fraud, cocaine sales and possession, larceny, resisting arrest, destroying evidence, illegal use of a two-way communication device, and operating a childcare facility without a license.
Richberg was previously arrested in April on charges of fraudulent use of a credit card, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, and fraudulent use of personal identification information. She had been previously convicted of fraud in an unrelated case in Pennsylvania and is currently out on bond.
The investigation highlights the ongoing cooperation between the sheriff’s office and local businesses in identifying and prosecuting financial crimes targeting customers.
