A contracted security guard at the Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami-Dade County was arrested after surveillance footage allegedly showed him taking $5,382 in cash belonging to an immigration detainee who was being processed for deportation, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office.
Matthew Christian Torres, 31, of Palmetto Bay, was arrested Monday, Aug. 24, at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility and charged with third-degree grand theft. Torres worked at Krome as a contracted security guard for Akima Protective Services.
The investigation began after a detainee identified in records only as W.J. told facility personnel that $5,382 was missing from his property as staff prepared paperwork related to his deportation. A Department of Homeland Security representative subsequently provided investigators with surveillance footage recorded Aug. 19.
According to the arrest report, the video showed Torres handling the detainee's cash during the property-processing procedure. Investigators said he placed the money inside a property logbook but didn't record it in the facility's system.
A deputy reviewing the footage reported seeing Torres "concealing the money inside his black jacket" before the guard entered an employee restroom. After returning, Torres allegedly removed "the clear plastic bag containing the money from the inside of his chest area," according to the arrest account.
NBC affiliate WTVJ separately reported that footage showed the cash later being moved into a trouser pocket. Investigators said Torres didn't report the money to a supervisor, and there was no record of the cash being entered into Krome's property system.
Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office deputies were called to the detention center Monday afternoon after personnel raised concerns about the discrepancy. Torres was arrested after deputies reviewed the surveillance footage, according to the account of the investigation.
Torres was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and held on a $2,500 bond, according to Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department booking information. Florida classifies theft of property valued above $750 and below the applicable upper statutory threshold as third-degree grand theft, making the charge a felony.
The case leaves unanswered what happened to the money and whether it has been recovered. It also wasn't immediately clear whether W.J. remained in the U.S. when Torres was arrested or had already been deported.
Local 10 News said it sought comment from ICE and Akima but hadn't received public responses as of Tuesday morning. Court records hadn't yet listed Torres's first appearance at the time of the original report, and Akima hadn't publicly said whether he had been suspended or terminated.
The arrest puts additional attention on Krome, formally known as the Krome North Service Processing Center. The Associated Press has described the facility, located near the Everglades, as the oldest immigration detention center in the U.S., tracing its origins to the federal government's response to Haitian migration in the late 1970s.
Krome has previously faced allegations involving the conduct of guards and conditions inside the facility. In the early 2000s, reports of guards sexually assaulting female detainees or coercing sexual favors resulted in criminal cases against several employees, according to the Associated Press.
Federal oversight has also identified more recent problems. A Department of Homeland Security Inspector General audit found instances in which Akima guards at Krome violated federal use-of-force standards, including one episode involving a chokehold and another in which a detainee was pepper-sprayed through a solitary-confinement door slot despite presenting no apparent threat.
Human Rights Watch last year reported overcrowding and unsanitary conditions at Krome. Akima responded at the time that it couldn't "comment publicly on the specifics of our engagement."
Akima Global Services, which has operated at Krome under a federal contract, is owned by Alaska Native corporation NANA. A federal contract notice reviewed by GovCon Wire valued the agreement at roughly $685.5 million.
Conditions at Krome have drawn greater attention as the Trump administration's immigration-enforcement campaign increased the number of people held in federal detention. Associated Press reporting based on ICE data found that Krome's detainee population at times approached nearly three times its listed capacity, while the federal detention ombudsman received more than 2,000 complaints from immigration detainees nationwide during the early part of the year.
Separate reporting reviewed by Alaska Public Media found that four people held in ICE custody at Krome had died since the beginning of 2025. The latest case differs from those broader disputes over detention conditions: Torres now faces an individual felony prosecution over an alleged theft that investigators say was captured by the facility's own surveillance system.
