An arrest has been made in an ongoing credit card fraud case recently featured by the New Braunfels Police Department.
The New Braunfels portion of the investigation began in July 2017 when credit cards were stolen from a locker at a New Braunfels-area workout facility. Within minutes, the stolen cards were used to make fraudulent purchases at Best Buy locations in New Braunfels and San Marcos, as well as a Lowe’s location in San Marcos. As the investigation continued, it was learned that the suspect was using the stolen credit cards to purchase high-dollar gift cards and expensive electronics. It was also learned that the suspect was using similar methods to make fraudulent purchases all over the country (to include transactions in Texas, Florida, Colorado, Washington, California, and Oklahoma). The investigation further revealed that the total amount of fraudulent purchases made with stolen credit cards over the last year exceeded $300,000.
The investigation grew to include the United States Secret Service, Texas DPS, the New Braunfels Police Department, the Georgetown Police Department, and was aided by the cooperation of employees from several Best Buy locations. Eventually the investigation led to the identification of a suspect living in the Houston area. On Oct. 31st, 2017, at approximately 9am, with the assistance of the Harris County Constables Office, a traffic stop in Katy, Texas, was executed and a federal arrest warrant was served on 30-year old Adewale Vaughan of Katy. Vaughan was arrested without incident and was booked into the federal detention center in Houston. Following his arrest, a number of items of evidence were discovered in his vehicle, directly connecting Vaughan to fraud-related crimes in New Braunfels, San Antonio, Houston, and California, among others.
Vaughan is facing federal charges for Aggravated Identity Theft (18 USC 10-28A (a1)), Trafficking in or Using Unauthorized Devices (18 USC 1029), and Effecting Transactions Using Access Devices Issued to Another Person (18 USC 1029). With this arrest, the case from New Braunfels is now concluded and the remainder of the investigation will be handled by the U.S. Secret Service.