VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood announced the arrest of 26-year-old Keith Merard, who was caught in a complex fraud scheme involving stolen Starlink satellites and other equipment. Surveillance footage shows Merard loading several stolen devices into a black SUV in South Florida, part of an elaborate operation that spanned almost a year.
Chitwood explained that Merard was one of several scammers who orchestrated a sophisticated scam by creating fake email accounts and impersonating Volusia County employees.
"He had created these false email accounts as if he were the county manager or the director of business or the director of procurement, and was going out to all these vendors in the hope of getting equipment that he could then convert the cash, turn into bitcoin and send it overseas," said Chitwood.
Merard was allegedly targeting some of the county's 600 vendors with open lines of credit to make fraudulent purchases of expensive equipment.
was allegedly targeting some of the county's 600 vendors with open lines of credit to make fraudulent purchases of expensive equipment. Two purchases went through.
"They purchased $7,000 worth of reusable respirators, and they were able to purchase $48,000 worth of Stalinks," said the sheriff.
Despite his efforts to cover his tracks, one mistake led officials straight to him.
“He activated one of those Starlinks, and that’s what gets detectives onto him,” Chitwood added.
Following the activation of the device, authorities moved swiftly to arrest Merard, who was booked into Broward County Jail on Monday. He faces charges of organized scheme to defraud and criminal use of personal identification information.
In response to the breach, Volusia County has strengthened its cybersecurity measures. A county spokesperson said in an email that the county has implemented a domain monitoring tool that alerts officials immediately if someone registers an email domain similar to the county’s.
“Volusia County takes incidents like this very seriously and is committed to protecting our vendors and preventing fraudulent activity," said Community Information Director Michael Ryan. "We implemented a domain monitoring tool to identify and shut down fraudulent email domains posing as Volusia County staff. We also alerted our vendors to these scam attempts and provided guidance on identifying fraudulent purchase requests. We greatly appreciate the exceptional work of the Volusia Sheriff’s Office and will remain vigilant in combating fraud.”
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