Laredo PD: Ex-employee used company's credit card in gift cards

Bryan Andrade.

A man used a company credit card to buy more than $66,000 in gift cards, according to Laredo police.

Bryan Andrade, 21, was served with an arrest warrant on Sept. 30 that charged him with theft of property, a third degree felony.

The case dates back to Aug. 19, when police responded to a credit card abuse at Absolute Group Inc. on 1208 Vidal Cantu Road.

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A representative of the company stated that a former parts supervisor had been using his company American Express to buy more than $50,000 worth of merchandise. Police identified the former supervisor as Andrade.

The representative stated that Andrade bought unauthorized merchandise from Office Depot and Walmart between April 4 and Aug. 19. Andrade spent about $46,365.55 at Walmart and $4,059.80 at Office Depot, according to the initial report.

Andrade was inputting the transactions into the company’s QuickBooks as items for the truck shop, according to court documents.

As per the affidavit, the accountant noticed a discrepancy in the QuickBooks system, where Andrade would report that he was buying 5-gallon oil tubs for the shop, which were not inventoried. In addition, Andrade falsely reported that he was buying office supplies from Office Depot.

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Further investigation revealed that Andrade bought gift cards from Walmart, Love’s and Office Depot that were not authorized as business-related purchases, the affidavit states.

Andrade would somehow copy other legitimate receipts showing items purchased for the business over the receipts where he purchased the gift cards, according to police. Authorities tried contacting Andrade to no avail.

“Based on the information obtained throughout the investigation, it was determined that Mr. Andrade used a company-assigned credit card, which was intended for business purposes only, to make numerous gift card purchases from May 7, 2024, through Aug. 19, 2024, at Office Depot, Love’s Travel Center and Walmarts in Laredo,” states the affidavit.

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“According to (the complainant), there would be no reason to purchase gift cards for business purposes. The amount of gift cards purchased totaled $66,865.07.”