An employee of the Popeye’s restaurant in Palm Coast was arrested on Friday for credit card fraud, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office announced on Tuesday. 48-year-old Chaniqua Richberg is accused of using her position in the drive-thru window to steal customers’ card information to make bogus purchases.
The first victim to report having their information stolen did so on March 20th, when they reportedly saw Richberg tap the card once for the food order and another time on a cell phone. That same day, they found a charge of $311.90 on their account which they didn’t conduct themselves. At this point the victim contacted law enforcement, the FCSO says.
Detectives investigating the case discovered that the charge was a payment to the Apalachee Correctional Institution in Jackson County, Florida. The money was transferred into the commissary account of an inmate in custody there.
From here, the FCSO’s General Assignment Unit and Problem Area Crime Enforcement (PACE) detectives located Richberg on Friday while she was working at Popeye’s. She was arrested there on charges of fraudulent usage of personal identification information, fraudulent use of a credit card over $100, and unlawful usage of a two-way communications device. She was booked into the county jail in the early afternoon, and that evening she posted her $7,500 bond.
“This woman thought she could get away with stealing from a customer and giving money to a state prison inmate,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “But unlucky for her, the customer was paying attention and noticed the fraudulent charge, so now Richberg gets to join her friend in jail! I encourage everyone to be attentive during transactions and report anything suspicious to law enforcement.”
