Category: Financial Crime

First day with LeadsOnline reaps success

“On the first day of using LeadsOnline, another detective in my bureau had a burglary investigation that resulted in the identification of the suspect’s eBay account name. I used LeadsOnline to search for the eBay username and located the suspect’s information. The eBay information helped identify the suspects in the burglary.”

Lead Inv. Anthony Pelato
Riverside County Sheriff’s Department
California

A felony Warrant issued for a man using a fake identity

“In August, Sibley Equipment company filed a report with Woodstock PD where a man using a fake name and driver license number rented a concrete saw and a generator and never returned it. We found the items through LeadsOnline two days later and recovered it. We were able to identify the suspect and we now have a felony warrant for his arrest.”

Chief Len Price
Woodstock Police Department
Alabama

LeadsOnline used by investigators in Cleveland County to find stolen guns and electronics

“A burglary was reported to the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Department where several guns and electronics were stolen. Three days later, the 46 inch Samsung flat screen television that was stolen out of the residence was located at a pawnshop in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The Mossberg 410 shotgun had been sold at Money Mart Pawn Shop in Pine Bluff. The suspect also sold a Ruger 10/22, Knight Muzzleloader, and a Marlin 17 caliber rifle. The suspect has been identified and is in custody. Almost all of the property reported stolen has been recovered thanks to LeadsOnline.”

Det. Josh Bolland
Cleveland County Sheriff’s Department
Arkansas

Leads delivers results the first time for North Carolina Police

“One of my first assigned cases was a breaking and entering of a residence with a larceny of a shotgun. This was one of my first experiences with LeadsOnline. I ran the suspect’s name through the system, and the first search showed me everything I needed to know. I’m really impressed with the LeadsOnline system, and I try to tell any other agency I come in contact with about it. My suspect had actually sold a lot of other property, and I was able to recover other stolen items he sold. Thanks for an awesome system.”

Det. Ronald Clarke
Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office
North Carolina

There is no honor or loyalty among criminals. Misery does love company.

“Three suspects, linked to over 10 burglaries in a four month period, were apprehended after a residential burglary in which they stole a victim’s purse while she was sleeping. After being awoken to the sound of glass breaking, the victim entered her kitchen to find missing property. She heard the sound of a muffler from a loud vehicle speeding away in the distance. The authorities were made aware of the use of the credit cards stolen along with the purse, and a still photo was acquired of one of the suspects involved. After the photo was placed on a website and in several newspapers, a tip was received as to the whereabouts of the criminal. The suspect turned himself in to authorities and gave up the name of a second suspect who was apprehended and questioned. In turn, he gave up a third suspect from the crime. After running their names through the LeadsOnline database, several items were found. The crooks are now awaiting trial due to the evidence brought forth from LeadsOnline. Thank you LeadsOnline!”

Det. Keith Craft
Houma Police Department
Louisiana

Santa Clara County uses LeadsOnline to find stolen bikes worth over $50,000 in Bay Area

“A 38 year old white male out of San Jose was allowed free access to a bike store in Cupertino. When the owner would go on bike rides with friends on Saturday mornings, suspect would enter store (had keys and alarm code), steal inventory and subsequently sell online. The suspect was arrested and Search Warrant served on home; recovered over 80 items of evidence including 3 Carbon Fiber bikes; all recovered items valued at over $50,000. All because of finding the information on LeadsOnline!”

Sgt. Deborah Johnson
Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office
California

Stolen property returned to Georgia crime victims thanks to jurisdictions using LeadsOnline and eBay investigations tools

“I was able to use the LeadsOnline eBay site listing to look up an individual that was stealing items from our area. I received the information from a concerned citizen that this individual was shipping several lawn care equipment items that he sold on eBay through the mail on a regular basis. After checking his eBay account, thanks to LeadsOnline, I, along with Investigators from other cities and counties in the surrounding area, were able to locate where the suspect had sold numerous items online which were all stolen from the different jurisdictions. Thanks to LeadsOnline we were able to recover a few items but more importantly return property back to our victims.”

Det. Casey Fuller
West Point Police Department
Georgia

Indiana detectives use LeadsOnline eBay system to identify vacuum thief

“While investigating a significant amount of thefts at our retails stores for the popular “Dyson” vacuum cleaners, we utilized the eBay listings portion of LeadsOnline. We located a local resident who had sold two units within the past few days. As a result of the records provided, we were able to identify our suspect within 15 minutes of the placing the search for our stolen property. The suspect was identified as having sold 11 stolen vacuums and charges have been filed by three different agencies, in three different counties as a result of this information. The suspect was arrested and refused to provide a statement, however the evidence gathered through Leads Online makes this a solid case!”

Det. Brian Nugent
Avon Police Department
Indiana

Stolen laptop for sale online recovered by diligent Indianapolis detective

“Once again Leads has proven to be very valuable. I was assigned a case today and had information from a victim that he had found his laptop on eBay. I was able to use the eBay function on LeadsOnline and was able to immediately find out who the seller was. I was able to make contact with the seller who told me he bought the laptop through craigslist. After just a couple hours after having the case assigned to me, I was able to recover the victim’s laptop which would have otherwise have been shipped to someone who had purchased it on eBay. Thanks again.”

Det. Larry Craciunoiu
Indianapolis Police Department
Indiana

Arizona bank robbers caught with LeadsOnline

“Our department responded to a bank robbery in Sahuarita, Arizona. Investigation showed that the same suspect had robbed a different bank, earlier in the day, in Pima County, Arizona. We learned that the day before, an anonymous tip was called in describing the individuals involved in bank robberies in the Tucson area over the past three months. This tip included two phone numbers and three names associated with the suspects. We ran this information through all of our police databases, but it was LeadsOnline that cracked this one open. Search warrants were issued and later in the day three suspects were arrested. After interviews, all three confessed to a total of 11 bank robberies in the Tucson / Sahuarita / Pima County area.”

Det. Steve Bunting
Sahuarita Police Department
Arizona

Felony charges for misuse of company credit card

“I was investigating an unlawful use of credit card case where an employee used the company’s credit card to purchase tools from Home Depot, but the tools never ended up at the business. The employee claimed he bought the tools and delivered them to the business, and he said someone must have stolen them. I checked the employee’s home, Craigslist, eBay and the other sales sites, but I was unable to locate any of the stolen tools. When I checked LeadsOnline, I found the employee sold several of the missing tools at multiple pawn shops in our area. Along with the recovery of the tools, I obtained video of the employee during the actual sale of the items, which lead to felony charges against the employee. Without assistance from LeadsOnline, this case might not have come to a successful conclusion.”

Det. Michael Pentecost
Glendale Heights Police Department
Illinois

Caught a crook during training of the LeadsOnline system

“While training on the new system, I located several items that were purchased using bad checks. The suspect told me the items had been stolen from him (lie). Using your system, I located the items and found they were pawned by the suspect.”

Det. Thomas Cope
Dayton Police Department
Ohio

Pinpointing illegal activity and money laundering

“I am a detective from the Yellow Springs Police Department and am assigned to the Greene County Ace Task Force. We specialize in major felony cases in our county. My Chief and I were able to use LeadsOnline to pinpoint some illegal pawning that was going on, and I was able to use it in indicting two subjects this week. Due to the specific information that is on your website, we were able to add a money laundering charge for receiving monies on stolen items. So from our victims and our department to you, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO FOR THE INVESTIGATIVE WORLD.”

Det. Naomi Penrod
Yellow Springs Police Department
Ohio

Suspect with stolen credit cards caught by LeadsOnline

“After a series of burglaries, the suspect used credit cards taken during the burglaries to purchase gift cards. The suspect was very careful not to give us a shot of his face on surveillance video when using the cards. Transactions from the gift cards showed that he was less careful using those, giving us a shot of his face. We were still unable to ID him. He also purchased a pizza, and he provided his phone number to the restaurant when he ordered it. The phone was a burner and all normal attempts to identify the owner didn’t work. I ran a search for the number through LeadsOnline and sure enough, he provided this number to a shop in another state. His picture was pulled, and it was a match to the suspect in the surveillance video.”

Det. Michael Costello
Republic Police Department
Missouri

Three municipalities use LeadsOnline to arrest and charge Rolex thief

“I recovered a Rolex watch valued at almost $9K. The watch was purchased with a bad check on a closed account and sold at a local business. The watch was recovered, and the very next day the suspect was taken into custody for my agency, as well as Harwood Heights and Oak Park. All three municipalities had charges on the same suspect and utilized LeadsOnline for their cases. LeadsOnline is a great tool for law enforcement.”

Officer Rich Stoettner
Orland Park Police Department
Illinois

Elderly couple’s son fraudulently uses their credit cards and steals jewelry

“An elderly couple in our city reported the fraudulent use of one of their credit cards. In the initial interview with the victims, their 50-year-old son was identified as the person responsible for the fraudulent charges. After several days, this couple noticed that some of their jewelry was missing. At first, they thought the jewelry might have been misplaced. Since the couple’s son had already been established as a suspect in the credit card use, a LeadsOnline search was conducted under his name. Seven transactions with the son as the seller were located in an adjacent city. The jewelry was positively identified as the missing jewelry, and confiscated as evidence. The original tickets with the signature and fingerprint of the suspect were received from the Police Department of the city where these transactions were made. The business provided video of the transactions, and this showed the suspect selling the stolen jewelry. This case is now awaiting prosecution.”

Lt. Jim Sepi
Winslow Police Department
Arizona

Fraudulently purchased jewelry sold and recovered at local secondhand business

“An initial report to our call center started an investigation concerning a suspect making fraudulent purchases on a closed account to a well-known jeweler in the Raleigh area. During the investigation, it was learned the suspect made a $15,000 purchase in one day, and then, at a later date sold the jewelry to a local pawn shop. A search on LeadsOnline indicated the whereabouts of the stolen jewelry, and also revealed other fraudulent purchases from other jewelry stores in the area. The jewelry was recovered from the pawn shop. Over $15,000 in fraudulently obtained jewelry was recovered from the pawn shop, clearing three cases. This is another example of how LeadsOnline is assisting our department in clearing cases. To date, LeadsOnline has assisted the Raleigh Police Department in clearing 208 cases and recovering $300,430.55 in stolen property in a year.”

Det. Wilbur Oneal
Raleigh Police Department
North Carolina

eBay First Responder Service catches boat burglar wanted for nine months

“Our department spent nine months tracking boat burglars up and down the Connecticut shoreline. The suspects had stolen items totaling $40,000 – $50,000 such as expensive GPS devices, laptops, and binoculars. We found many of the items listed on eBay, and using LeadsOnline eBay First Responder Service, we were able to contact buyers which allowed us to positively identify the property as stolen. Because of the eBay First Responder Service, we were able to locate stolen property across the U.S. as well as in the United Kingdom and Australia. Upon apprehending our main suspect, we found that he had been wanted on warrants for over a year, and because of the evidence provided through LeadsOnline, he confessed to more than 30 boat burglaries. His accomplice was also arrested. Without the valuable information and help I received from LeadsOnline and the staff there, this case could still be open.”

Officer Greg Matakaetis
Clinton Police Department
Connecticut

LeadsOnline reveals cybercrime and shoplifting operation in Minnesota

“I just signed up for my LeadsOnline trial this week. I was looking for information on obtaining user information to an eBay account, and before starting the subpoena process with eBay, I saw the link to try eBay First Responder through LeadsOnline. Looking for a resource that may expedite my investigation, I gave LeadsOnline a try. In no time at all, I received a call from a representative who was very helpful in setting up my account and giving me a quick tutorial on how to use the program. After ending our call, I put the suspect’s eBay seller account name into the database and received the information I had planned on not receiving for several weeks had I requested information via a subpoena. Two days later, a neighboring agency and I arranged an undercover meeting with the suspect. The suspect was later arrested after admitting she was selling stolen merchandise. A subsequent search of the suspect’s house found many stolen items and revealed the suspect was involved in a large shoplifting operation that involved approximately 12 stores in our area. I’m very appreciative that I found this resource! I know it will be beneficial in the future as well!”

Det. Derek Randall
Cloquet Police Department
Minnesota

Suspect selling stolen military items identified in no time

“On Monday I was handed a theft case from my Chief of Police. Someone was selling a military item on eBay that was believed to be stolen. I contacted LeadsOnline and spoke with someone on their support team, while on the phone with him, I was able to look up and identify the suspect. Thanks to this search, I was able to identify my suspect and write a search warrant for the suspect’s residence. To top it off, I recovered two of the stolen military items, and the suspect was in jail the very next day. LeadsOnline streamlined the investigation process with the eBay First Responder Service.”

Det. Bob Hayes
LaVergne Police Department
Tennessee

California detective solves cyber crime in record time

“I used the eBay search tool through LeadsOnline for the first time and instantly received information on a potential suspect who lived in our city. Immediate follow-up was conducted at the suspect’s residence and the stolen property, worth approximately $9,000, was recovered from his home! I am thankful for the partnership LeadsOnline has with eBay because without it, I don’t think I would have been able to locate this property. Needless to say, the victim was ecstatic to hear his property was recovered in record breaking time!”

Det. Stacy Orchulli
El Cajon Police Department
California

Michigan detectives solve cyber crime in no time with eBay First Responder Service

“Day shift took a report of two-way radios being taken out of 17 trucks over the weekend. A detective was assigned the case and began following up on it. He searched for the radios on eBay with LeadsOnline, looking for postings of radios for sale and found a hit. The detective then drilled down in the records for the seller of the radios. Those records identified a Pontiac woman’s eBay account. An interview of the woman produced confession of her involvement in the theft and sale. The case is still being investigated to identify the male involved in the theft with the Pontiac woman.”

Lt. Jim McDonnell
Auburn Hills Police Department
Michigan

Employee theft identified with instant access to eBay information for law enforcement

“I recently was assigned to investigate a case where an employee was listing products owned by his employer on eBay. Once the eBay auction was complete, the employee was getting the items off of the employer’s shelf and shipping the items to the auction winner, at the employer’s cost. The eBay search function greatly sped up the process of checking the seller’s history and confirming that around 30 transactions had been completed, and another 70 or so had been attempted. The employee confessed to the activity, but when confronted with the amount of thefts was somewhat surprised at the amount.”

Deputy Sheriff Frank Bergmark
Hall County Sheriff’s Office
Nebraska

Speedy customer services helps an Alabama detective track down stolen property

“While investigating numerous thefts, I contacted LeadsOnline because I was unable to run a search through eBay listings to look for stolen property. I use LeasdsOnline on a regular basis; however, I have never conducted a search for user ID info through the eBay search. I emailed LeadsOnline with a question and was contacted almost immediately. The employee explained to me how to get the information I was requesting. I was able to search and pull up all listings for the suspect which included numerous suspected stolen items. I later interviewed the suspect and obtained a confession on how she stole all these items from a local store. I used the listings to verify everything she stole. I was able to recover some of the stolen property and return it to its owner. By using LeadsOnline, I was able to identify numerous other stolen items besides what was originally reported, and then make an arrest.”

Det. Darren Wolters
Normal Police Department
Illinois

Stolen cell phones and iPods recovered on eBay

“I was investigating a case where numerous cell phones and iPods were stolen from a local high school. One of the phones was reported as stolen by the person who purchased it on eBay because of a message on the screen when she received it. I received information from the buyer about the eBay seller and used LeadsOnline to determine who the seller was. I learned he sold seven more items that were also stolen from his school. LeadsOnline saved me numerous hours of work by having the information available at my fingertips.”

Det. John Mick
Lower Merion Police Department
Pennsylvania

LeadsOnline helps police track juvenile runaway

“Our agency was investigating the disappearance of a 16 year old female. While we were confident that she had left on her own volition, there had been no contact with her by her close friends or family over the week she was missing. We were able to determine through her friends that she had met a complete stranger through social media, and it was likely she was with him. Through records of electronic media, were able to get a possible name and a contact phone number he used in contacting her. His social media pages were generic and provided no assistance in identifying him. After all other outlets: phone companies, ISP providers, social media legal staff, etc., failed us, we ran his name through LeadsOnline. We got a hit right away. Using the information provided to us by LeadsOnline, we contacted authorities in Florida who confirmed by driver’s license number that the Florida license picture was the same person in the social media pages. From there we used utility billing on an address here in Tennessee, two counties away, to locate both the man and the juvenile. This adult individual had met her on social media, packed up and moved from Florida less than two weeks after his first contact with her, and convinced her to go with him. We learned the first thing he did when she joined him was smash her phone. According to her, ‘he said the police can’t find you if they don’t know anything about me and you don’t have a phone to be tracked.” He didn’t think about his history in secondhand businesses. Without the LeadsOnline hit we would still be looking for both of them. She is safe at home and no charges are pending on him yet, because the parents are concerned about the juvenile’s social media actions which led to the events.”

Det. Doug Brannon
Monroe County Sheriff’s Department
Tennessee

LeadsOnline helps close case and recover stolen photography equipment on eBay

“Okaloosa County Deputies took a report of a vehicle burglary in a Fort Walton Beach neighborhood. The victim said that someone had entered his vehicle while it was parked in the driveway of his residence. The suspect stole approximately $43,603 worth of professional photography equipment and other personal property. A few days later, photography equipment matching the description of what was stolen from the vehicle burglary was located for sale on eBay. Using LeadsOnline, we determined the account of the seller belonged to a female in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. We made contact with the female and she informed us that her boyfriend had used her account to sell some photography equipment that he purchased with the intent of reselling. After an in-depth interview with the boyfriend, he confessed to stealing the property and we were able to recover approximately $36,242 worth of the property and deliver it back to a VERY happy victim.”

Inv. Nolan Weeks
Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Department
Florida

Stolen lab equipment found in New Haven. Everybody Yale!

“I was informed that a suspect was selling portable hard drives on eBay. I utilized LeadsOnline, which enabled me to view the suspect’s eBay account. I determined he had numerous hard drives and very expensive laboratory equipment listed for sale similar to those reported stolen from Yale University laboratories over the past year. Using LeadsOnline I was able to obtain the name and telephone number of the two separate individuals who purchased the laboratory equipment. I was also able to serve a search warrant for the suspect’s residence, and we recovered 10 hard drives, as well has other items from Yale University. We recovered $20,000 worth of stolen items.”

Det. Paul Sires
Yale Police Department
Connecticut

Employee theft of auto parts solved via LeadsOnline eBay. Back to Normal in Illinois.

“Thanks for teaming with eBay. I was able to use your eBay search to locate numerous stolen items related to an auto parts manager stealing items from a dealership and selling them on eBay. He sold over $10,000 in auto parts. Thanks to LeadsOnline, we were able to track a lot of the items down. This tool was a big part of making the business owner happy with our investigation. Thanks.”

Det. Jake Zabukovec
Normal Illinois Police Department
Illinois

California law enforcement detective caps off investigation by returning stolen collectibles to owner

“While investigating a residential burglary of high value of $100,000 collectible items, I contacted LeadsOnline and requested assistance using the eBay search function. LeadsOnline was extremely helpful and walked me through the search functions. Over the following weeks I regularly searched for the specific stolen items on eBay.com. When I located potential matches I used the eBay search function on LeadsOnline to obtain account holder information. This saved hours and hours of investigation and warrant writing as I was able to easily obtain the information needed from LeadsOnline to eliminate suspects. Eventually all the searching paid off when I located one item of property for sale on eBay.com. Using LeadsOnline I was able to search using the suspect’s username and obtain his full name and contact information. I was then able to obtain a search warrant and recover approximately 90{cc076d231c9ed685c458de66ee8f909e5ae89b16df4392fc2f4a3d10435e2020} of the stolen items. Thank you, LeadsOnline!”

Det. Kellye Netz
Atascadero Police Department
California

Multi-jurisdictional identity theft case solved via LeadsOnline

“Identity theft suspect identified through LeadsOnline hit. One simple pawn report led me to the true identity of a multi-jurisdictional identity thief. The suspect used the victim’s identity to pawn some property. The video from that store gave me what I needed to positively identify the suspect and add one more count to the charge sheet. LeadsOnline comes through again.”

Det. Paul Armbrust
Lake Forest Park Police Department
Washington

Burglary suspect leads California detectives to identity thief

“I conducted a check of stolen property by running the name of a possible suspect. The name and birth date of the suspect showed matches for three sales in the Pacific Beach San Diego area. Two of the three sales matched stolen property from two vehicle burglaries, one ring and one purse. While the purse (Coach) is common, the description by the victim matched perfectly. The ring, which was a family heirloom, also matched perfectly. With the assistance of LeadsOnline, we were able to positively identify the suspect and make an arrest, which led to the arrest of a second suspect for unrelated crimes of identity theft. Thank you Leads Online for the assist.”

Det. Aaron Mansker
Coronado Police Department
California

Stolen property recovered for American soldier serving in Afghanistan

“Our agency received a report of an apartment burglary. The difficult part about this case was that the victim in this case was serving our country in Afghanistan. The victim provided us with a list of items taken, but he did not provide serial numbers. During the investigation, we discovered that the victim’s identification was also taken and that the perpetrator was using it to purchase various mobile phones. The phones were being delivered to the victim’s address but were always intercepted by the perpetrator. LeadsOnline helped us in the arrest and confession of two of the victim’s next door neighbors. Most of the stolen items as well as ALL of the phones were recovered and returned to the owners.”

Det. Reginald Cooper
Byram Police Department
Mississippi

Electronic reporting instantly reveals suspects and a host of other crimes

“On January 30, at approximately, 11:30 a.m., a burglary occurred in Lake Mexia of Limestone County. After the case was forwarded to me on January 31, I checked LeadsOnline and found one of my suspects selling several items from the burglary by 2:30 p.m. (3 hours after the burglary). This information led to the arrest of the first suspect. This first arrest led to two other arrests. The third arrest took place after the suspect led me on a 20 minute vehicle pursuit. The impounded vehicle, which was used in the pursuit, was the same involved in the Lake Mexia burglary. An inventory of the vehicle opened new cases on additional key players for Possession of Controlled Substance, credit card abuse, Fraudulent Use or Possession of Identifying Information, Possession of Dangerous Drugs, and POM. Thank you LeadsOnline! You guys are helping us make a tremendous impact in Limestone County.”

Sgt. Jason Ash
Limestone County Sheriff’s Office
Texas

Florida police solve identity theft case with LeadsOnline

We had a victim who received a statement from her bank for the cost of a Dell Laptop that she did not purchase. The victim filed a police report for identity theft in which she suspected her neighbor as a possible suspect. The neighbor was interviewed and denied the allegations and/or purchasing a Dell Laptop. A few weeks later I attended a training on LeadsOnline hosted by Anya and Travis. I ran the neighbor on LeadsOnline, and discovered the neighbor sold several items at a local business in our city. One of the items was a Dell Laptop that was the same color and model of the Dell Laptop purchased with the victim’s personal information. The neighbor was interviewed again and shown the transaction ticket showing the neighbor sold a Dell Laptop. This time she admitted to the fraudulent use of the victim’s personal information, purchasing the Dell Laptop and selling it. She was charged and transported to jail. LeadsOnline is a great tool for law enforcement!”

Det. Juan Amaro
Hialeah Police Department
Florida

Suspects use stolen credit cards to buy and sell items for cash

“I used LeadsOnline to successfully arrest two burglars. They were using stolen credit cards to purchase electronics and were turning around to sell them for cash. I knew the identities of the suspects, and I conducted queries on both of them on LeadsOnline. I discovered they were selling a large amount of computer related items. Those items were seized from the shops, and I traced the serial numbers back to the stores where they were purchased. I discovered they were bought with credit cards that were stolen in recent burglaries.”

Det. Jason Cirbo
Douglas County Sheriff’s Office
Colorado

Tricky suspect tries to hide behind his mother

“I recently had a burglary where numerous common power tools were taken, Dewalt, Skil etc… I also had suspect info, or so I thought. Nothing turned up on the suspect name that I had. However, by searching LeadsOnline, I was able to locate the suspect and the stolen property. He had a different spelling for his first name and the last name he used was his mother’s maiden name. Without this feature, I really don’t think it would of been found so easily. Thank you LeadsOnline. You Rock!”

Det. Jason Hicks
Clay County Sheriff Office
Minnesota

Police identify mystery woman in Georgia auto theft

“I worked a case that involved a female renting a vehicle using a fraudulent identification and refusing to bring it back. The suspect’s true identity was unknown and no surveillance footage was available at the rental location. I reviewed surveillance footage from the business which showed the fraudulently obtained vehicle enter the parking lot just prior to the transaction found in LeadsOnline. A photo lineup was provided to the car rental employee who picked the suspect out. Arrest warrants were taken out on the suspect.”

Sgt. Cody Smith
College Park Police Department
Georgia

Ex-employee is caught using the company’s name to commit fraud

“I was assigned to investigate a commercial burglary where the business suspected an ex-employee. I then entered the subject as a person of interest. Soon after I began receiving notifications of the subject’s transaction activity. When I checked the items sold I contacted the victim who stated that the sold items were not items that were stolen from his business. However, upon further review the victim discovered that those items had been fraudulently rented from a tool distributor using his business name. The tool distributor was then contacted and advised of the fraud. The offense occurred in a different jurisdiction, but the distributor was able to locate their property and the information was passed on to that agency so that the proper charges could be filed.”

Det. John Pedric
South Holland Police Department
Illinois