An employee of Disney Cruise Line has been accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the ship he was working on and using the money for a vacation to Walt Disney World. The employee is accused of embezzling close to $275,000 from the Disney Wonder and going to Walt Disney World with his family for a very lavish vacation.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that Renan Dias Da Rocha Gomes has been charged with wire fraud due to these allegations. Working on the Disney Wonder, Gomes is said to have started taking the money directly from the merchandise locations in which he worked on board the ship.
Gomes was employed by Disney Cruise Line from October of 2015 until just last week when the accusations first became public.
In order to take such a high amount of money, Gomes allegedly embezzled the money by using the VeriFone payment system and putting it on gift cards. FBI special agent Joyce Deniz said that Gomes used both his identity and that of another person to gain access to VeriFone and embezzle the funds.
He allegedly started out taking small amounts and soon began taking it in larger sums due to getting away with it originally.
A probable cause statement, from court documents filed in U.S. District Court’s Southern District of California, states that getting away with embezzling around $40 made it seem easier for Gomes.
“Gomes further admitted that he began by embezzling approximately $40. and realized that nothing happened to him. He immediately thereafter began loading the limit amount of $1,000 onto multiple gift cards while working on the ship.”
Allegedly, after embezzling enough money, Gomes took his family on a two-week vacation to Walt Disney World this past spring. Using the gift cards, Gomes spent $8,700 for his resort stay and another $26,400 on food, entertainment, drinks, and merchandise while in the parks.
It was just this past week that FBI agents boarded the Disney Wonder while it was docked in San Diego and they confronted Gomes. After being presented with the evidence and accusation, Gomes admitted he took the money from Disney Cruise Line, according to court documents.
Renan Dias Da Rocha Gomes worked for Disney Cruise Line for just around two years before being arrested and charged with wire fraud for allegedly stealing from the ship. The money he reportedly embezzled and put on gift cards was more than enough to take his family on a deluxe vacation to Walt Disney World, but the FBI did find out. There has been no word on what will happen with Gomes since his arrest, but it is in the hands of the authorities and the courts.
[Featured Image by Danny Cox]
