On February 2, 2016 the Sheriff’s Office was contacted by a female reporting that her husband had been a victim of two large fraudulent withdrawals from their Bank of America checking account. The total of the two withdrawals was in excess of $7,000. Investigation into the frauds soon began.

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. Detective Firkin and a detective with the Maryland Transportation Authority determined that they were looking for the same suspect. The Maryland detective was looking for a man who stole a wallet from the luggage dispenser at BWI and had made fraudulent purchases with the stolen credit cards.

On June 15, Detective Firkin received a phone call from a representative of Cardinal Bank. 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 BOL 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 Detective Firkin.

The man was identified as Gregory Horton of South Park Court in Woodbridge, Virginia. Detective Firkin reconnected with the Maryland detective and provided him with Horton’s information. He then visited Horton’s address in Prince William and a resident of the home identified the male on the flyer as Gregory Horton.

On October 3, 2016 a Stafford County Grand Jury returned a direct indictment of Gregory Horton for two counts of fraud. These cases are challenging to solve and take many weeks, months and sometimes years to conclude. This particular case was successfully solved due to the images provided by the financial institutions. Many times frauds of this nature are conducted via online transactions by suspects outside of the area or even out of the country. The Sheriff’s Office reminds all citizens to check their bank accounts often, strengthen their passwords regularly and report any suspicious financial transactions by calling 540-658-4400.