Two Men Arrested in Gift Card Scam

Mount Vernon patrol officers responded to a citizen report of a “suspicious” vehicle parked in a lot in the 7700 block of Richmond Highway on Saturday, February 7 at around 3 p.m.

Patrol officers engaged in discussion with occupants of the Toyota Corolla and charged them with trespassing, as the shopping center had a “no trespassing sign” posted nearby.

An observant shopper then approached the officer and reported that he had seen the two occupants of the Corolla with a computer, a credit card encoder, and a stack of credit cards and the scene felt “suspicious” to him.

Financial Crimes Detectives were called and responded to the scene. After further investigation, detectives determined that suspects were reportedly sitting at this spot, uploading fraudulent credit card information onto blank gift cards and using them as actual credit cards. They were in in the parking lot waiting on others (people known to the suspects) to arrive and “shop.”

Nathanial Henry, 35, of Temple Hills, Maryland was charged with trespassing and credit card forgery. Randolph Marrow, 36, of Washington DC was charged with trespassing. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges may be pending.

Nathaniel Henry

Nathaniel Henry