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A suspended Las Vegas cop and his wife allegedly carried out a credit-card fraud spree across Nevada and California, racking up tens of thousands of dollars in purchases before claiming their cards had been stolen.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer Antonio Chavez, 28, and his wife, Claudia Guzman-Marquez, 30, are accused of making pricey purchases and then filing false credit-card disputes between May 25 and Aug. 3, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The couple faces charges of theft of more than $25,000 but less than $100,000, burglary of a business, conspiracy to commit burglary and theft, and perjury.
“Antonio Chavez and Claudia Guzman have intentionally used their credit cards to purchase expensive items and gift cards in the tens of thousands of dollars,” Detective Theodore Snodgrass wrote in a warrant application obtained by the outlet.
“Chavez and Guzman intentionally purchased these items, knowing they would dispute the charges with the credit card companies, claiming that their wallets and purses had been stolen.”
Chavez allegedly filed a false police report with the Henderson Police Department to support his claim that his card had been stolen, Snodgrass said.
The couple allegedly purchased more than $13,000 worth of gift cards from Town Square Concierge on South Las Vegas Boulevard on May 25 before disputing the charges with Capital One and American Express, according to the arrest report cited by the Review-Journal.
Chavez also allegedly disputed an Apple Store transaction worth more than $1,200 after telling the credit card companies that his wallet had been stolen.
Investigators noted that Chavez did not dispute charges made in the days before the alleged fraud and waited to report his American Express card stolen to both the company and police.
That same day, Guzman-Marquez allegedly made several purchases using Citibank and JPMorgan Chase cards, including two Louis Vuitton transactions totaling more than $11,000, before disputing the charges.
The alleged scheme also stretched into California, where Guzman-Marquez disputed American Express charges made in the state in June and through online merchants, police said.
Among them was a $5,000 gift card purchase at Fashion Island in Newport Beach.
Those gift cards were later used to make purchases at an automotive shop and an Aritzia store at the Las Vegas North Premium Outlets Mall, according to the report.
Prosecutors said Chavez admitted to investigators that he conspired with his wife and “a third party in California” as part of a commercial fraud scheme targeting stores and credit card companies.
“He knew better,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Eckley Keach said of Chavez. “He knows what the law is and he knows that he violated the law willfully because he wanted to enrich himself and his family.”
Keach said Guzman-Marquez, who is pregnant, made similar admissions and was equally responsible.
Keach sought $100,000 cash bail and house arrest for Chavez, along with a hearing to determine the source of the money if bail was posted.
But Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Rebecca Saxe rejected the request Thursday, citing Chavez’s lack of criminal history, community ties and the nonviolent nature of the charges.
Chavez was instead ordered released without bail and placed under electronic monitoring. Guzman-Marquez was also ordered released with monitoring.
Defense attorney Robert Draskovich argued that Chavez has no criminal history, cooperated fully with investigators and has local ties.
“He’s presumed innocent,” Draskovich said.
After the hearing, Draskovich told the Review-Journal that the defense and prosecutors were working toward an “equitable resolution.”
The department said Chavez has worked for the Metropolitan Police Department since 2020 and has been suspended without pay.
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