Michael Merrell McGruder. {BSO}
By Ryan Yousefi
A routine traffic stop in Margate led to the arrest of a man wanted for grand theft crimes connected to a scheme in which he repeatedly manipulated a loophole in the lending system enabling him to obtain a string of fraudulent loans.
According to the arrest report, on February 2, a Margate police officer ran the license plate of a vehicle in the State Road 7 and the Atlantic Drive area, which showed the driver, later identified as Michael Merrell McGruder, 38, of Fort Lauderdale, was wanted for a variety of financial crimes.
McGruder’s string of crimes dates back to June 2020, when he allegedly first obtained an InstaLoan for $1,818.20, according to the report.
McGruder’s scheme consisted of using his vehicle as collateral to obtain same-day loans, which he would quickly pay off with a credit card, then subsequently report the payment transaction to his credit card company as fraudulent, according to records.
The scheme allowed McGruder to receive additional loans while an investigation into his claims took place. The report shows that McGruder used the systematic approach to take advantage of the delay between an investigation into his claims to receive ten additional fraudulent loans from June 2020 to late-July 2020, totaling more than $21,000.
McGruder is charged with felony grand theft over $20,000, defrauding a financial institution, and failure to wear a seatbelt.
Upon his arrest, McGruder was transported to the Broward County Main Jail, where he was later released on a $5,000 bond.
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