Man accused of Home Depot return fraud scheme across Charlotte, Sarasota counties

A man was arrested after deputies say he and two other suspects were committing fraud at multiple Home Depot stores across Sarasota and Charlotte counties.Deputies with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office say Raphael Davis, 20, would enter a Home Depot to return items that another suspect bought at that location in cash. They say that he would make the return using a photo of the receipt used to make the purchase. Surveillance footage from the Home Depot reportedly shows the fraudulent returns being made.Then, deputies say a third person would make a return on the same item at another Home Depot location, this time using the physical receipt. They say that these returns would be made within 60 seconds of each other, because Home Depot security negates the receipt after the return when one minute passes.This happened to multiple Home Depots, their organized theft investigator told deputies. On Friday, CCSO pulled Davis over as he was leaving a Port Charlotte location.Davis was arrested and faces a charge of scheme to defraud obtaining property less than $20,000.DOWNLOAD the free Gulf Coast News app for your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.