Dale City man indicted in 7-month Stafford fraud investigation

A Woodbridge man is wanted after a grand jury indicted him on two counts of fraud after a seven-month investigation in two states.

A woman on February 2 called the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office to report someone had fraudulently withdrawn more than $7,000 from her Bank of America account in two transactions, said Stafford sheriff’s spokeswoman MC Moncure.

More from a press release:

Detective R.E. Firkin began the investigation with very little information. He followed leads to where the fraudulent checks were cashed. Each check was cashed by a teller but at a different Bank of America location. Both times fraudulent identification was presented and accepted by the teller. One check was cashed in Silver Spring, Md. and the other at Eastpoint Financial Center in Baltimore. Det. Firkin requested evidence of the transactions from each branch. Once a photograph of the suspect was obtained a “Be On the Lookout” flyer was created and disseminated. Several leads were developed and pursued over the ensuing weeks.

Another detective from the Maryland Transportation Authority was searching for someone who stole a wallet from BWI Airport near Baltimore. It turned out, both detectives were searching for the same suspect, said Moncure.

A break in the case came on June 15 when Firkin got a call from a teller at a Cardinal Bank location. According to Moncure, who could not say which Cardinal Bank location tipped of Stafford authorities.

More in a press release:

The bank officer stated that he was looking for information concerning a suspect who attempted to cash a counterfeit check at their bank in April 2016. While reviewing [be on the look out] alerts he believed his suspect matched the man in Detective Firkin’s case. Although the check was not cashed by Cardinal Bank, during the attempted transaction the man had presented a valid Virginia driver’s license. A copy of the driver’s license was then shared with Det. Firkin.

This led detectives Gregory Horton, of South Park Court in Dale City, was indicted Monday by a Stafford County grand jury with two counts of fraud, said Moncure. He remains at large.