An investigator from the Broward Medical Examiner’s Office was arrested following allegations of stealing the credit card information of at least one dead resident and using it to transfer money to his own accounts.
According to a Broward County Sheriff’s Office booking report, Darrell Fernando Reid, 38, was arrested on January 19.
Reports from the Coral Springs Police Department are that on October 21, 2023, Reid was summoned to an apartment in the 9700 block of Westview Drive in response to reports of a foul smell emanating from the residence.
Discovering the deceased
Upon arrival at the scene, Reid and other officials discovered the lifeless body of a resident who had already been deceased for over two weeks.
Standard procedure in such cases involves documenting and examining the contents of the victim’s wallet.
Reports are that three days after her father’s body was discovered, she contacted the police.
She reported finding her father’s debit card on the kitchen counter and grew suspicious after noticing three transactions in his bank account, each amounting to $150.
The investigation revealed that the transactions were traced back to two CashApp accounts—one belonging to Reid and the other to a woman named Shanika Wright.
Charges laid
Reid has been charged with three counts of criminal use of a dead person’s identification and one count of fraudulent use of a credit card.
A web of suspicion
According to the arrest report, Reid’s CashApp account, active from 2020 until November 2023, contained 27 payment sources.
These sources included 25 debit and credit cards, along with two CashApp cards.
Expanding the scope
In addition to the October 21 victim’s card, investigators found another tied to someone who had recently died in Broward on November 6.
Reports are that this victim’s credit card information was found to have been added to Reid’s CashApp account 90 minutes after Reid had visited the house of the deceased.
Furthermore, investigators traced Reid’s CashApp account to a credit card linked to a man who had died in New York City back in December 2022.
At the time, Reid was serving as an investigator for the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office.
