A BrandsMart employee in Miami Gardens was detained over the weekend after police claimed he processed thousands of dollars in fraudulent return transactions and deposited the funds on his personal debit card.
According to an arrest report from the Miami Gardens Police Department, officers responded to the BrandsMart business at 4320 NW 167th St. on Saturday to investigate a theft involving an employee.
Loss prevention officials told police that the employee, Malachi Lapaka Fuller-Albury, had been with BrandsMart since April 2025 and was reportedly executing return transactions without any items being returned.
According to investigators, Fuller-Albury, 20, of Miami, processed the refunds directly to his own Visa debit card.
According to the report, an internal inquiry discovered 17 fraudulent transactions worth $16,445.58 between April 4, 2025, and this past Saturday. Authorities reported that all of the cash was placed into Fuller-Albury’s Space Coast Visa debit card.
According to police, loss prevention officers analyzed surveillance footage and store records and discovered Fuller-Albury getting into the company’s computer system, looking around to make sure no one was watching, and then swiping his personal debit card to process refunds.
According to the complaint, once police investigators checked the camera footage and itemized transaction data, Fuller-Albury was taken to the store’s loss prevention office.
Authorities said Fuller-Albury was informed of his Miranda rights and agreed to speak with investigators.
During the questioning, authorities showed him surveillance photographs related to the transactions. According to the police report, Fuller-Albury signed, dated, and initialed the photos to confirm that he was the person seen in them.
According to investigators, Fuller-Albury confirmed that the scheme began accidentally.
“He stated that one day, by mistake, he returned a transaction to his personal debit card and got away with it and just continued with the illegal activity,” the report says.
According to police, Fuller-Albury eventually delivered a full taped confession in which he admitted he understood his acts were illegal.
Authorities also seized an Ed Fed Visa debit card from Fuller-Albury, which allegedly matched the card used in all seventeen transactions. The card was taken as evidence.
Fuller-Albury was arrested for first-degree grand theft and lodged into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
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