Miami: Authorities in Miami say that a man who was previously detained on suspicion of human trafficking is now being charged with a second felony, this time for allegedly stealing the identity of a woman he attempted to recruit.
Since May 5, 2022, 41-year-old Ruben Gonzalez has been incarcerated in Miami-Dade County.
According to the authorities, a search warrant discovered that he owned six distinct iPhones, each of which included numerous images of driver’s licenses and identity cards belonging to different women, including the victim.
The woman told police, according to the arrest report, that she had met Gonzalez on a dating service. Gonzalez “attempted to recruit the victim to become an escort for his company” during their date.
Gonzalez, who has previously gone by the handle “handsome_and_wealthy_305” on the internet, is claimed to have taken a picture of the victim’s driver’s license during their date, according to the police.
She later learned that someone had attempted to open a credit card in her name through her credit report, according to the police; she reported the fraud to her credit card company, and the account was subsequently terminated.
According to the arrest report, the woman had three addresses on file; the first was her own, but the other two were associated with Gonzalez.
Gonzalez allegedly created a PayPal account in the victim’s name and used it to send and receive over $50,000 between March 5, 2022, and January 16, 2024, according to the authorities.
On Monday, in addition to his numerous criminal charges, investigators added an identity theft accusation. As of Tuesday afternoon, Gonzalez was still being held at the Metro West Detention Center.
