Wakulla County Sheriff's Office Press Release:

Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office investigators, with assistance from state and federal law enforcement agencies, have captured two men who were allegedly involved in a massive scheme to defraud hundreds of victims across the United States and other jurisdictions of millions of dollars of cash through identity theft, according to Major Maurice Langston.

On July 6, Wakulla Sheriff’s Office investigators served a search warrant at a Mill Creek Road home in Crawfordville and arrested a 19-year-old suspect. The suspect has been held in the Wakulla County Jail since that time while law enforcement officials from Wakulla, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the U.S. Secret Service have tracked a second suspect in the case. The second suspect was apprehended by state and federal officials in Ohio on Thursday, July 22.

The scheme involved suspects creating credit cards using stolen personal information. They took the stolen information and purchased gift cards and shipped the cards and merchandise purchased with the cards around the world. “We don’t really know who they are or if they are here legally,” added Major Langston.

Major Langston added that the case began when the sheriff’s office received a complaint from a female in Arkansas who had become a victim of identity theft through a local business. The victim observed unauthorized transactions on her bank account that were traced to Crawfordville.

A total of 28 unauthorized credit card transactions were carried out by a suspect identified as Nigel Raymond Humphrey, 19. WCSO investigators later determined that Humphrey also used the name Gaspar Bishop, but are unsure of their teenager’s identity or whether he is in the United States legally.

During the service of the search warrant, blank credit cards were discovered in the home and yard as well as applications for credit cards, computer printers and other equipment used to create bogus credit cards. It was during the service of the search warrant that detectives discovered Paul Adams, 46, and determined that he was also a person of interest in the case.

Humphrey/Bishop has been held in the Wakulla County Jail since his arrest, but law enforcement officials have been searching for Adams since that time. He was believed to be in Wooster, Ohio and the Ohio State Highway Patrol spotted him in a restaurant July 22 and captured him during a traffic stop shortly after 12 noon.

The Secret Service was also involved in the arrest and discovered more than 1,000 stolen personal identities from New York in the vehicle as well as more than 15 cellular telephones, a scanning device used to get personal information from credit cards, computers and other devices. The investigation included assistance from the Pensacola Police Department and victims or participants in the scam were traced to Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Georgia, Ukraine and China.

Humphrey/Bishop was charged with 28 counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, criminal use of personal identification, passing counterfeited credit cards and fraud. He is being held on $400,000 bond.

Adams faces 11 counts of possession of counterfeit credit cards, 11 counts of criminal use of personal information, one count of criminally forged identification and one count of organized scheme to defraud.

The Secret Service is holding Adams and additional federal charges are expected. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are working with the Wakulla Sheriff’s Office to determine if they can find the real names of the suspects and if they are in the country legally.

”Normally in a fraud case involving credit cards, the bank takes care of the victim and that is the end of it,” said Major Langston. “It is very difficult to pinpoint the source of the fraud. This case was different in that we were able to take it up the line farther. They were probably working for someone else. Financial crimes are a multi-billion dollar industry and this case could get into the millions of dollars.”

WCSO Detectives Drew Vass and Sean Wheeler conducted the complicated and extensive investigation.