A Florida man was recently arrested in another state for his alleged involvement in acts of fraud. The fraud was tied to his alleged use of fake IDs and a variety of credit cards that did not belong to him. Allegations of credit card fraud are quite serious, and those accused face serious criminal consequences such as jail time, fines and more.
Fraud across multiple states
Authorities suspect that the 34-year-old man may be responsible for credit card fraud in at least three different states. Most of the fraud allegations took place at bike shops. In one case, a bike shop owner claims that when the man failed to complete a transaction with credit card information stored on his phone, he manually typed the information into the machine and completed the transaction for more than $3,600 in items. For this act as well as others, he is charged with:
- Theft by deception
- Access device fraud
- Receiving stolen property
The bike store owner in the previous incident reported it as suspicious to police, who later identified the man’s vehicle and initiated a traffic stop. At the time they found the merchandise from the store in his vehicle. They also found a number of other suspicious items, including credit cards with other peoples’ names, multiple cellphones, a laptop, a fake ID and a credit card skimmer.
Florida state law treats allegations of fraud quite seriously. In addition to potential legal consequences, a criminal record for credit card fraud can also seriously limit future employment opportunities. When minimizing these consequences is a priority, constructing a strong criminal defense foundation is usually a good place to start. This often begins with a thorough review of all charges and related evidence under the guidance of a knowledgeable and compassionate counsel.