A 25-year-old man was arrested in Collier County, Florida, accused of taking $44,000 that someone owed him for a purchase of cooking oil in Cuba intended for his brother, according to an arrest report cited by Gulf Coast News.
The accused, identified by his initials as B.J.C.P., is a resident of Naples. According to the report, he allegedly used the name "Frank Linares" during the operation, which had a total value of $77,500.
According to the reconstruction reported by the media, another person, who was not identified, was supposed to deliver $44,000 to the accused as part of the payment, but only after his brother confirmed from Cuba that he had received the oil.
To gather the cash, that person visited a Wells Fargo branch on Palm Beach Boulevard in Lee County on three different days, where they made withdrawals of $15,000 each time. The source does not clarify why the withdrawals totaled $45,000 while the money intended for payment was $44,000.
Both met later at a Publix on Thomasson Drive. According to the report cited by Gulf Coast News, they counted the cash inside a vehicle, and the accused reportedly inspected the bills to ensure they were not counterfeit.
The $44,000 were inside a small black bag. According to the report cited by Gulf Coast News, the two counted the cash inside the vehicle and Camallery Pérez even inspected the bills to ensure they were not counterfeit.
While waiting for confirmation from Cuba, they bought food and walked along the beach. Later, they stopped at a BP gas station on Collier Boulevard to use the restroom.
According to the version included in the police report, the accused first entered the establishment, and when the other person went to the bathroom, he allegedly left the premises.
The victim then contacted the Collier County Sheriff's Office and explained that both cash and their keys were inside the vehicle. The officers reviewed the gas station's surveillance cameras and were able to identify the car and subsequently the suspect.
When he was found, according to the report, he was wearing the same shirt, pants, shoes, and jewelry that appeared in the recordings.
The report also includes the defendant’s account. During the interrogation, he admitted to leaving the gas station while the other person was in the bathroom and claimed that this individual "was acting strangely" and had said they only had part of the money. However, he denied having seen the cash and insisted that he did not know where it was.
The investigators found the keys while searching the vehicle, but the black bag that reportedly contained the $44,000 was missing.
Images from a doorbell camera at the residence provided another element to the investigation. According to the cited police report, the recordings would show the accused entering and leaving the house with a black bag before getting into an Uber headed to Physicians Regional Medical Center on Pine Ridge Road. Investigators noted that when he returned, he no longer had the bag.
The public arrest record of the county confirms that B.J.C.P. was booked on September 15 for a charge of grand theft of $20,000 or more, but less than $100,000.
According to Florida law, the theft of goods valued between $20,000 and under $100,000 is classified as a second-degree felony. The arrest and the filing of charges do not imply a plea of guilty.
The background of the case is particularly striking due to the intended use of the funds: to purchase oil for Cuba, where the product is facing a severe crisis of availability and prices.
In June, the Minister of Food Industry, Alberto López Díaz, acknowledged that no cooking oil had been distributed through the supply booklet during 2026. Following the removal of the national cap of 990 pesos on imported cooking oils, the price soared from about 1,500 pesos in April to 4,000 pesos per liter in August, with subsequent reports of bottles being sold for as much as 7,000 pesos.
The scarcity forces many families to seek alternatives to obtain the product. At the end of August, a Cuban grandmother reported that she went out to buy oil with two other people and returned empty-handed. Additionally, at the beginning of September, a truck loaded with oil was looted in Havana by dozens of people despite being guarded by police.
In Florida, scam schemes have also been reported involving fake shipping agencies and identity theft targeting individuals looking to send money or products to relatives on the island.
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