PALM COAST, Fla. (WFLA) — A second Popeyes employee has been arrested after authorities say they learned he was helping a co-worker scam customers at the fast-food chain’s Palm Coast location.
Shawnta Johnson, 42, of Palm Coast, was arrested by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, October 15, after a seven-month fraud investigation.
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Detectives said Johnson and his co-worker and best friend, Chanika Richburg, 49, of Palm Coast, made fraudulent charges to customers’ credit cards while working at a Popeyes drive-thru.
Richburg was arrested in April on multiple charges related to the incident. But Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staley said Johnson was the “mastermind” of the crime.
“Thanks to the help of Popeye’s new owners, we were able to piece together the missing pieces and arrest the mastermind behind this incident,” Staley said.
The sheriff’s office said Johnson is believed to have orchestrated the scheme to pay fees to Snead’s girlfriend, an inmate at Apalachee Correctional Facility.
“While they will not be joining their ‘friends’ who are already in solitary confinement, they are moving quickly toward sleeping in solitary confinement,” the sheriff said of the two Popeyes employees.
Johnson was arrested on multiple felonies, including organized fraud scheme, three counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, three counts of unlawful use of a two-way communication device, and three counts of fraudulent use of personal identifying information.
She was taken to Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and is being held without bond. Authorities said Johnson has a lengthy criminal history, including prior arrests for fraud, theft and drug trafficking.
Richburg was previously convicted of fraud in an unrelated Pennsylvania case and is currently free on bond, the sheriff’s office said.
