Detectives arrested and charged a 45-year-old man with nearly 150 charges after they identified him as a suspect into a significant fraud and ID theft investigation.
Titus Marian Pridon was arrested by detectives with the Portland Police Bureau on Friday after police discovered he had used cloned debit cards to access customer accounts and withdraw thousands of dollars in cash. The bank cards had been issued to real Chase Bank customers.
According to police, on Feb. 12, Chase Bank alerted detectives that cloned debit cards were being used at ATMs in Beaverton and Portland.
http://liarcatchers.com/identity_theft_investigation.html
A Portland Police officer spotted two men walking away from an ATM at the Fred Meyer store located at 14700 Southeast Division Street. The men got into a gray Mercedes Benz and the officer was able to use registration information that led them to a residence in the 15500 block of Southeast Lincoln Street.
One suspect, later identified as Pridon, left the residence and drove back to the same Fred Meyer store and used the ATM again, police said. After leaving Fred Meyer, police stopped him while driving the Mercedes that was seen earlier and took him into custody.
Portland Police Sgt. Pete Simpson said in a statement that detectives executed a search warrant at the residence and ended up “seizing a significant amount of evidence related to identity theft and credit card fraud.”
Pridon’s bank account is also being searched as part of a warrant “to seize assets,” according to Simpson.
The District Attorney’s Office dismissed a majority of the charges and on Tuesday Pridon was charged with one count each of money laundering and computer crime. He is also charged with five counts of aggravated ID theft and 10 counts of ID theft.
Pridon is represented by attorney Ryan J. Anfuso, who released the following statement: “Mr. Pridon has entered a plea of not guilty. A plea of not guilty is a denial of every fact alleged. Mr. Pridon is innocent of these charges unless and until the state proves otherwise. The mere fact that he was charged is not evidence. At this point we are in the process of gathering information and determining what if any evidence exists as the basis for these charges.”
Anyone with additional information about Pridon’s suspected criminal activity should contact Detective Travis Fields at 
503-823-4101, travis.fields@portlandoregon.gov
Simpson said this case was a joint investigation involving the Portland Police Bureau, the Beaverton Police Department, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, and Fred Meyer.
