Quebec tourist in Florida accused of defrauding a flower shop: report

A Canadian woman has been arrested and charged with allegedly defrauding a flower shop in South Florida, according to a report.

The woman, identified as a 25-year-old from Quebec who arrived in January, faces one count of grand theft and another of scheme to defraud the Sweet Dulce Vida in Greenacres, a community southwest of Palm Beach, as reported by CBS12 .

Deputies with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO) began their investigation in February after the small business owner reported that more than US$1,000 in payments for the sale of expensive arrangements were marked as fraudulent by the Bank of Montreal credit card over a short period. 

According to staff, a woman with a French accent who made the purchases requested the flowers be delivered to a vacant home for sale in North Palm Beach and asked florists to place cash in the arrangements because they were allegedly for her employer’s wife.

As part of the investigation, police used license plate readers to track the woman to the store’s address in a rented BMW. 

They then obtained security footage from a nearby Target store, recorded 20 minutes before the first floral shop fraud, showing her in the same outfit. Matching clothing was later found after deputies obtained a search warrant for the Riviera Beach home where she was staying. 

There, police also recovered a calendar with the phrase “JUGG FLOWER” written on it. “Jugging,” or “to jugg,” is a slang term for stealing, but according to A Right to Bear , “in law enforcement and media coverage today, jugging refers specifically to surveillance-based theft, often linked to banks, ATMs, and cash-heavy retail spots.”

Investigators also discovered that the woman had received a plastic card from an undisclosed payment company via international mail the day before launching her alleged criminal endeavours.

CBS12 reported the woman was transported to Palm Beach County Main Jail.

National Post has contacted PBSO for more information.

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