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Miami, FL - A South Florida business owner is facing mounting legal trouble after being accused of stealing customers' golf carts and reselling them as part of a broader fraud scheme.
Authorities say 43-year-old Miguel Gomez, the former owner of Vice City Golf Carts in Miami, is accused in at least six separate cases involving theft and fraud.
According to police reports, Gomez used his now-shuttered golf cart repair business to carry out a pattern of deception, taking payment for services, collecting carts, and never returning them.
In one case from early 2024, Gomez is accused of accepting a cart and $1,000 from a customer for an upgrade, promising to deliver a gas-powered replacement.
The customer never received the upgraded cart or their original one. In another incident, Gomez allegedly took an elderly woman’s cart for a $220 tire repair and returned it weeks later with missing parts and replaced batteries.
Repairs cost the victim around $5,000.
Other victims accused Gomez of vanishing after being paid to certify or maintain golf carts.
One $8,000 cart was allegedly found for sale at another business, where Gomez is accused of having traded it to settle a debt.
In another complaint, a man accused Gomez of accepting $15,500 to buy a boat, only to later offer stolen golf carts instead.
On Tuesday, Gomez appeared in bond court on the latest charges.
While bond was set at $7,500, he remains in custody due to an immigration hold.
He is accused of continuing to defraud customers up until the closure of his business.