MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A man who ran a now-shuttered golf cart sales and repair business is facing a bevy of felonies after Miami-Dade deputies said he “defrauded multiple victims” through “unethical business practices.”
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Court records accessed Thursday listed four active cases against Miguel Angel Gomez, 43, of southwest Miami-Dade, who was first arrested on April 2.
His latest arrest came Wednesday while he was already jailed in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Authorities said Gomez ran Vice City Golf Carts, which was located at 18753 SW 105th Place in an industrial area west of Cutler Bay.
Gomez’s method involved “repeatedly retaining possession of (victims’) golf carts without their permission, often concealing, selling, or transferring the carts to other unsuspecting victims in hopes of concealing multiple thefts,” arrest reports state.
Gomez’s latest case came after he victimized an 80-year-old Palmetto Bay woman, deputies said.
She called Gomez to her home on Dec. 16, 2024 and pre-paid him $220 to fix a flat tire on her golf cart, an arrest report states; he claimed he “needed to transport the cart to his shop to have the tire mounted.”
Authorities said Gomez took the $10,000 E-Z-GO and promised to have it back within two days. Instead, they said he had it for a month-and-a-half and gave “various vague excuses” as to why it wasn’t fixed.
Authorities said the woman confronted Gomez at his home on Jan. 31 and demanded to see her cart, which was in his backyard.
It had been stripped for parts, the report states.
“After informing (Gomez) she had filed a police report, days later, without notice, (he) abruptly dropped (off) her cart outside of her home and quickly departed,” the report states.
Deputies said all six of the cart’s fully-functioning batteries had been replaced with four “older used batteries” and several “major electrical motor-related components had been removed,” forcing the woman to spend $5,000 to get it back into working condition.
Two other cases contained publicly-available arrest reports.
Deputies said in one case, a man hired Gomez to turn his golf cart street-legal, “which only required a DOT low-speed vehicle inspection.”
After pre-paying a $1,000 deposit in May 2024 with the expectation that his $12,000 Kandi would be returned in a “few weeks,” deputies said Gomez “repeatedly failed to return the cart” over the following months, giving “various false excuses.”
Authorities said on Sept. 6, 2024, he met Gomez at a tag agency in Miami-Dade because Gomez “falsely” claimed that the cart passed inspection.
“After departing from the tag agency, the victim realized the title issued in his name falsely identified a different brand golf cart with a different VIN that he did not own,” the report states.
Investigators said they learned that days after Gomez took the victim’s cart, he provided it to a second victim to use as a loaner for seven months.
Another arrest report states that victim had made a deal with Gomez to trade in his old cart for a new one, taking a $1,000 deposit — and the man’s cart — and never giving him his new cart.
Deputies said Gomez claimed the whole thing was a “misunderstanding.”
As of Thursday, Gomez remained at TGK on nine felony charges, including grand theft, organized fraud and theft from an elderly person. His total bond was $26,000.
The Uruguayan national was also detained on an immigration hold.
According to the arrest reports, more charges are likely forthcoming.