Employee stole 735 cellphones, worth nearly $600K, Casselberry police say

CASSELBERRY, Fla. — An Orlando man has been arrested after he was accused of stealing almost $600,000 worth of cellphones from his employer, Casselberry police said.

Yrad Torres, 31, faces charges of fraud and dealing in stolen property, investigators said.

The investigation into Torres began in November when the regional director at Cellular Sales, which is an authorized Verizon retailer store, noticed there were irregular transfers of cellphones between two stores, police said.

Torres told investigators during questioning that he had “expletive up,” and had been selling the 735 iPhones to another man, who would sell the phones on eBay and Craigslist, police said.

The man told police he started buying the cellphones legally through the store and started dealing one-on-one with Torres since 2016.

Torres told police he would list the stolen phones as transfers to other stores so he wouldn't get caught and would have the buyer write him checks, officials said.

Torres was fired, but agreed to cooperate in the investigation, police said.

He was hired by Tesla after being fired from the cellphone store.

His lawyer told a judge Wednesday that his client surrendered himself to police to receive less time in jail. The judge reduced Torres' bail from $160,000 to $40,000 with some stipulations.

Cox Media Group