Authorities in Paulding County last week uncovered what investigators are calling an “elaborate identity fraud/credit card manufacturing operation” found during the eviction of a tenant who was behind in his rent.
Paulding sheriff’s Cpl. Ashley Henson said the owner of an office building on Darby’s Crossing Drive near Hiram was cleaning out an office on Oct. 29 and found suspicious items. The building’s owner called the sheriff’s office, and when detectives arrived, they found multiple credit cards, driver’s licenses and credit card embossing machines.
“Once Paulding detectives realized the scope of the operation, they immediately contacted the U.S. Secret Service to assist in the investigation,” Henson said.
He said detectives recovered 1,154 credit cards as well as multiple driver’s licenses from several different states that had been illegally manufactured.
Detectives arrested a suspect, 44-year-old Keith Michael Francis of Kennesaw, when he returned to the office complex to pick up the forgery equipment and credit cards, Henson said.
Francis was charged with forgery of financial transaction cards, manufacturing of false identification cards and criminal possession of financial transaction card forgery devices.
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