A former bookkeeper at a Presidente Supermarket in Miramar was arrested in an alleged theft scheme dating back several years that may have cost the company over $3 million, authorities said.
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Elianny Soberao, 40, was arrested Wednesday on charges including organized scheme to defraud, grand theft and uttering a forged instrument, Broward jail records showed.
According to an arrest affidavit, the investigation began on Feb. 24, when Miramar Police responded to the Presidente Supermarket at 3102 S. University Drive in Miramar.
Police learned Soberao, who had been the store’s financial manager and bookkeeper, was withholding cash deposits while providing false documents and altered bank statements to an external accountant to conceal the theft, the affidavit said.
Presidente’s co-owner told investigators the company’s preliminary investigation found Soberao had been stealing cash from the business several times per week but they weren’t sure of the exact amount, the affidavit said.
He said he confronted her but she denied any wrongdoing, and she was fired.
The store’s external accountant told investigators the fraud “was made possible due to the level of trust placed in Soberao and her control over both the physical cash and the accounting records,” the affidavit said.
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An investigation found Soberao began instructing cashier managers not to deposit certain amounts of cash, telling them she would “take care of it,” the affidavit said.
Soberao gained direct access to cash that should have been deposited into the company’s bank accounts and to conceal the missing funds, she altered vendor invoices to show false expenses, the affidavit said.
The external accountant’s financial analysis found losses of over $880,000 in 2022, over $1 million in 2023, over $974,000 in 2024, and over $1.19 million in 2025 for a total loss of over $3 million, the affidavit said.
Investigators have directly linked Soberao to over $500,000 through unexplained cash deposits into her accounts, the affidavit said.
Soberao was booked into jail and was being held on a bond of just over $1 million, records showed.
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