Credit Card Fraud Operation Discovered at Hiram Business Park

Police uncovered a large credit card fraud operation last week at a Hiram office park after one of the tenants was being evicted for failing to pay his rent.

The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office said Keith Michael Francis, 44, of Kennesaw, faces multiple charges stemming from the discovery of an elaborate identity fraud/credit card manufacturing operation in an office in the Darby’s Crossing Office Complex, located at 44 Darby’s Crossing Drive in Hiram.

The sheriff’s office said in an email that the complex owner alerted authorities when he found suspicious items while cleaning out the office on Oct. 29.

Deputies discovered multiple credit cards, drivers licenses, credit card embossing machines, and several different types of identity theft devices. The U.S. Secret Service was called for assistance when local officers realized the size of the operation.

“I have never seen a financial transaction card forgery operation as large scale and elaborate as this one,” Paulding Sheriff Gary Gulledge said in a news release.

The news release also stated:

“In total, 1,154 credit cards were located in the business. There were Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, as well as multiple debit cards from different banks found. Detectives also located multiple Driver’s Licenses from several different states that had been illegally manufactured. “

The Sheriff’s Office said Francis was arrested when he returned to the office to pick up the illegal items.

Francis, who is being held in the Paulding County Jail, has been charged with (all felonies):

• Forgery of Financial Transaction Cards
• Manufacturing of False Identification Cards
• Criminal Possession of Financial Transaction Card Forgery Devices

If you have any information about this financial transaction card/forgery operation, contact the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at 770-443-3015.

(Photo: Keith Michael Francis, 44, of Kennesaw. Credit: PCSO)