Ex-employee of Collier County countertops business arrested for stealing from customers

A man was arrested Monday in Collier County after he reportedly defrauded multiple customers of out of thousands of dollars while he was employed at a North Naples countertops business.

Jeremy Austin Adams, 31, whose arrest reports says he is homeless, is charged with grand theft, scheme to defraud and fraudulent use of identification of another.

Detectives said Adams used his position as a salesman at Rock Solid Countertops and More, 2240 J&C Blvd., to steal from unsuspecting customers by adding fraudulent upcharges to legitimate high-end granite sales transactions. He then created altered invoices to hide the charges within the company accounting system. Adams accepted cash and used his own credit card swiping device to conduct the credit card transactions for the inflated upcharges.

Detectives also said Adams fraudulently used company paperwork to create and submit fake invoices and forged customer signatures. He used the company name and imagery to create a fake online Square App credit card processing account in the name of Rock Solid. He used a small credit card reader attached to a cell phone and a fake account to process the fraudulent credit card charges. The name of the fake account, Rock Solid Counters, was similar to the legitimate account, Rock Solid Countertops, so as not to raise customer suspicions when it appeared on their credit card statement.

In total, Adams stole from seven customers and pocketed in excess of $7,431 for his own personal gain, according to his arrest report.

Adams remains in the Collier County Jail. The investigation continues.