Jasper officers receive accolades for actions taken to arrest pair involved in multi-state credit card fraud ring

The U.S. Secret Service presented the City of Jasper with a letter of commendation for the actions taken by four Jasper police officers during a credit card fraud investigation.

According to the letter from Special Agent in Charge Paul R. Dvorak of the Indianapolis Secret Service office, the special agent working the case was impressed by the actions officers Martin Loya, David Burger, Grant Goffinet and Brent Duncan took to apprehend the suspects based on the report of a single credit card transaction. Crediting the investigative work of the patrol officers, the investigative agent in the case reported he had never encountered law enforcement locating a credit card skimming device by analyzing credit card expenditures.

Dvorak further commended Officer Loya for his continued support in the investigation and how it led to the identification of about 270 victims whose credit card account numbers had been stolen by Moner and/or Herrera. Losses from those thefts and fraudulent uses amounted to more than $90,000.

The officers responded to a complaint of fraudulent credit card use on December 28, 2015 at about 6 p.m. The Indianapolis victim told police her card had been used at a Jasper area convenience store. After receiving the complaint, the officers notified other convenience stores in the area of the possible fraudulent activities.

Later that night, they received a call from a Huck’s Convenience Store where an individual was attempting to make a purchase but the card kept getting declined. As the individual left, the store attendant took down the license plate number of the car as well as a description.

Officers began searching for the suspect vehicle and located it in the Walmart parking lot at about 2:30 a.m. Monday morning. The officers met with and then took four individuals — Roberto Moner, 28, of Southside Drive, Louisville, Ky., Adianez Herrera, 43, of Piccadilly Circle, Jasper and two teens age 16 and 17 — into custody.

At about 7 a.m. that morning, officers executed a search warrant of Herrera’s Piccadilly address and located credit cards, a magnetic strip reader, computer equipment and stolen items.

Moner and Herrerra were both charged with felony counts of fraud, identity theft, theft, and unlawful possession of card skimming devices.

From this, Herrera was indicted on federal charges of identity theft and access device fraud. Moner is currently a fugitive.

The two were also part of a larger group taking part in these activities in multiple states which is being investigated by multiple federal and local police agencies.

“This is testament to the quality of Jasper’s police officers,” Jasper Police Chief Michael Bennett said. “This was all due to the ground work conducted by these officers.”

[gview file=”https://duboiscountyfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/US-Secret-Service-Letter-of-Gratitude-for-JPD-1.pdf”%5D