Two executives at a fish house in Key West, Fla., were arrested on warrants related to the theft of an estimated $2.5 million worth of seafood.
Marianela Armenteros, general manager of a fish house owned by the Valero-Duran Corporation, was charged with multiple counts of grand theft more than $100,000 and Yamir Gonzalez-Betancourt, the assistant general manager, was charged with one count of grand theft more than $100,000, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.
The owner of the fish house and three commercial fishermen contacted the sheriff’s office in early 2021 and stated the suspects were stealing money. The sheriff’s investigation found that Armenteros had been putting thousands of commercial stone crab and lobster tags in her name as opposed to the names of the commercial fishermen, which prevented the fishermen from fishing legally and thereby profiting from their work.
“Further investigation showed Armenteros also placed a commercial fisherman’s boat in her name without his permission. The fish house also lost money due to the fishermen being unable to sell their product to the company,” the sheriff’s office said.
The case against Gonzalez-Betancourt involves a scam he was operating regarding the sale of lobsters to export buyers.
“He had the exporters buy the lobsters directly from him in cash and not the fish house. The investigation showed the fish house lost more than $100,000 due to Gonzalez-Betancourt’s actions,” the sheriff’s office said. Armenteros is being held on $400,000 bail, while Gonzalez-Betancourt is being held on $100,000 bail.
