PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (CBS12) — A Palm Beach Gardens Best Buy employee is accused of a months-long fraud scheme that cost the store more than $118,000, police say.
According to his probable cause affidavit, the investigation began in December 2024 when the store’s manager noticed irregular sales while reviewing inventory.
Officers say he discovered that his 37-year-old employee, Matthew Lettera, had been purchasing electronics at extremely high discounts — some nearly 99%.
Best Buy hired private investigators which fond Lettera conducted 97 discounted purchases for himself, totaling $81,717, and 52 additional transactions for others, adding $36,573 in losses.\
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The scheme ran from March through December of 2024, and receipts documenting the transactions were submitted to the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department.
Detectives say they traced several Apple MacBook Pro laptops pawned by Lettera at PayMore in Greenacres between September 2024 and October 2025, using pawn records and thumbprint verification as evidence.
Police say Lettera used a manager’s code at the register to commit the fraud.
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He was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on Wednesday for organized fraud.
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