Four passengers found their cruise getaway ending on a sour note when they were arrested in Miami.
Their offense? Using fraudulent credit cards to play big at the ship’s Vegas-style casino, located on Deck 7.
The culprits, Michael F. Emmanuel (35) and Tyrisha Delgado (38) of Boston, and Devin Jones (28) and Quentin Marcellus Tuck (32) of Beaumont, Texas, now face a slew of charges in Miami, including grand theft and running an organized fraud scheme.
According to arrest reports, during a cruise aboard MSC Cruises’ MSC Magnifica, which departed from Miami on August 19, 2024, the suspects allegedly tried to cash out large sums of money by paying with fraudulent credit cards.
The onboard security team on the 2,550-passenger ship sailing to the Bahamas, detected suspicious activities and alerted U.S. Customs and Border Protection, reported NBC Miami. This led to a deeper investigation into the suspects’ booking and onboard transactions.
Investigations revealed that the suspects had registered three different credit cards during their trip, all of which were declined due to their fraudulent nature. Searches of their personal belongings, including their phones, uncovered numerous pieces of personal identifiable information, suggesting an organized fraud scheme.
Upon the 95,128-gross-ton ship’s return to PortMiami from its 4-night cruise that called in Ocean Cay and Nassau, Bahamas, the four individuals were taken into custody and booked at Miami-Dade jail.
The foursome has been formally charged with organized schemes to defraud, third-degree grand theft, possession of fraudulent identification, and credit card fraud, all of which are felonies.
A bond of $2,500 was set for each suspect, who pleaded not guilty and demanded a trial by jury. Their court hearings are scheduled for September 23, 2024.
Preventing Fraud at Sea
This isn’t the first time Miami-Dade police have been waiting at PortMiami to arrest passengers committing fraud on a cruise ship. In November 2023, four passengers sailing on Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Celebration were apprehended for using stolen credit card information to make high-value purchases and withdrawals.
As was the case aboard MSC Magnifica, the Carnival ship’s security team detected the scam during the 5,374-passenger ship’s 7-night Western Caribbean voyage. Coordinating with law enforcement, the individuals, ages 29 through 31, were arrested after using multiple credit cards.
Onboard purchases in that incident ranged from $2,700 to nearly $20,000, with one of the passengers using a stolen credit card to book the cruise.
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Earlier that year, a 31-year-old woman from North Carolina was also arrested by Miami-Dade Police after Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis of the Seas’ security team alleged she used eight stolen credit cards to wrack up more than $22,000 in charges during a cruise to the Caribbean.
Cruise ship security teams are well-trained and equipped to detect and respond to fraudulent activities, as demonstrated by the recent arrests in Miami. Sophisticated surveillance systems, particularly in ship casinos, play a crucial role in the protection of passengers.
While discovering fraudulent credit cards can be easier when cards are declined at the casino or ATM, many cruise lines allow passengers to send all onboard charges to their account and who may not spot discrepancies until settling at the end of a voyage.
Passengers can protect themselves by checking onboard accounts daily through the cruise line’s app, setting alerts for any transactions made on your account, keeping credit cards and other payment methods securely stored, and reporting suspicious activity immediately.
