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$198,000 stolen from local business; arrest made

January 23rd, 2020 by WCBC Radio

 In September 2019 a local business reported to the Cumberland Police the theft of over $198,000.00, after discovering that it had been fraudulently removed from their company account. A joint investigation was initiated at that time with the Allegany County Combined Criminal Investigation Unit (C3I).

 

            The C3I investigation revealed that an unknown suspect, starting in August 2018 and continuing until August 2019, had somehow obtained, and was utilizing the business account to make numerous online payments to, and purchases from, a variety of different businesses. Investigators were able to obtain and forward subpoenas to the different businesses in order to gather  information about the purchases and payments, and the Internet Provider (IP) address utilized by the suspect. Further review of that information helped Investigators develop a suspect, living in Colesville, Montgomery County, Maryland.

 

            C3I Investigators were able to obtain a search warrant for the suspect's address and an arrest warrant for the suspect. C3I Investigators coordinated with fraud detectives with the Montgomery County Police Department, and with their assistance, and the assistance of the Montgomery County Police Department SWAT team, served the search warrant and arrest warrant on 01/22/2020, at the suspect's private residence in Colesville.

 

            Numerous items of evidence were seized for further review at that time.

 

            The suspect, 43 year old Alvin Cornelius Harper, Jr., Colesville, MD, was arrested on the warrant, charging him with two counts of Theft over $100,000.00 and the Unlawful Use of a Payment Device Number. He is currently free, after posting $5000.00 bond  in District Court in Montgomery County, pending his next court appearance.

 

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