Two men charged with using fake credit cards in Siesta Village

George Dale

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has arrested two men who allegedly were using fraudulent credit cards to buy gift cards and other items throughout Siesta Key Village.

In June, George Dale, 32, with no known local address, purchased a $200 gift card from the Siesta Key Oyster Bar, according to a Sheriff’s Office report. The next night, he rang up a bill of $271.79, the report says. He covered the cost each time with what managers later learned to be a fraudulent credit card, the report says.

On the night of Aug. 8, Dale returned to SKOB and tried to pay his bill with the previously purchased gift card, but it was declined, the report says. He instead paid with a debit card and left the restaurant as the manager called deputies. Dale and Charles Poupart, 33, of Port Orchard, Wash., were located at Gilligan’s Island Bar and Grill, also in Siesta Village, where they had purchased a $50 gift card and paid a $70 beverage tab using the same debit card they had just used at SKOB, the report says.

Charles Poupart

Altogether, the men had seven debit cards believed to be fraudulent, as well as the two gift cards purchased with the fraudulent cards, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Dale is charged with Forgery of a Credit Card and Grand Theft; he was placed under a $2,000 bond. Poupart is charged with Forgery of a Credit Card, with bond set at $1,000.

Detectives believe the men may have used these fraudulent credit cards at other area businesses, a Sheriff’s Office news release says. Anyone who believes they also suffered losses from transactions with Dale and Poupart may contact the Sheriff’s Office at 861-5800 to file a report.