Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp and Chief of Investigations Stephen F. Wilson, Jr. announce the arrest of Pedro Lopez-Hernandez, 38, of Morristown, on various theft related charges.
According to authorities, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority was the victim of a business email scheme. MARTA received false invoice instructions, in a compromised email, from a known vendor’s account instructing payments to be made to an updated Bank of America account. Based on this fraudulent email, MARTA made two payments totaling $399,024.63.
Officials say the investigation determined that the money was ultimately deposited into Lopez-Hernandez’ Bank of America account. The defendant - who is not an employee or in any way associated with the victim or the vendor, Numbers Only - subsequently depleted the account in its entirety using cash withdrawals and wire transfers.
Police charged Lopez-Hernandez with the following offenses:
1 count of Receiving Stolen Property;
1 count of Theft by Deception;
1 count of Financial Facilitation of Criminal Activity, i.e. Money Laundering; and
1 count of Conspiracy to commit Theft by Deception.
A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. Despite this accusation, this defendant is presumed innocent until he is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.