A Florida man faces more than 500 charges for allegedly selling stolen items and violating loan shark laws

FORT LAUDERDALE — A Florida loan shark faces more than 500 charges after being accused of handling stolen property and failing to report the transactions to law enforcement.

Ronald Plavnicky, 58, was arrested Thursday and charged with 502 counts of dealing in stolen property and failure to report to local law enforcement, court documents said. The second charge is a violation of Florida State Statute 539, also known as the Florida Lien Brokerage Act.

According to documents, Plavnicky “knowingly received accepted or misappropriated merchandise” from a customer during a transaction at a Pompano Beach pawn shop on Sept. 27. He then illegally traded items belonging to retailers such as Home Depot, Walmart and CVS.

Court documents claimed Plavnicky “knew or should have known” that the property he was dealing with was stolen.

It was also revealed that Plavnicky’s pawnshop did not report its transactions to Leads Online, an electronic reporting system where pawnshops are required to enter their purchases within 24 hours of the transaction. The system allows the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and other local law enforcement to track what items are being sold and pawned, according to the documents. Plavnicky’s shop allegedly purchased stolen items and then sold them without reporting them to the system.

Following an internet investigation, BSO found that Plavnicky’s store had an inactive website but was allegedly advertising products on Instagram. BSO then began an investigation into the pawn shop.

During the investigation, BSO learned that Plavnicky’s pawn shop was not entering items into the system “in an attempt to deter law enforcement,” the documents said. It was also revealed that the store did not report items purchased between November 2018 and May 2019.

Throughout the investigation, Plavnicky’s pawn shop will pay the undercover deputy “well below market value” for all items sold. Additionally, Plavnicky allegedly purchased “brand new, in-the-box” items that he later offered for sale, as well as items with spider wraps, a wired alarm that prevents theft. It was stated in the documents that the person allegedly carried out such transactions on four separate occasions.

Plavnicky appeared in bond court Saturday, where the judge set his bond at $110,000.