GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County small business owner targeted in a racketeering scheme says he’s relieved the alleged thieves were not able to get away with the $250,000 police say they tried to steal.
A man impersonating John Ramirez, co-owner of Progressive Recycling in Norcross, allegedly attempted to withdraw $250,000 from Ramirez’s business account at a Bank of America on Peachtree Parkway last May, according to Gwinnett County Police.
The transfer was stopped before it hit the suspect’s account.
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“[It was] because we found out, not the bank,” Ramirez told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson. “The bank didn’t know anything.”
The suspect, identified now as Carlos Garcia, approached a bank teller and claimed to be Ramirez, using what police say was a fake ID.
Garcia and another man were able to get in and out of the bank within seven minutes, Ramirez says.
They left the bank thinking they had successfully transferred the money out of Ramirez’s company’s account and into their own.
Ramirez confirmed that he had “never seen him before.”
The investigation points to a larger racketeering scheme involving five people, with two known victims and $420,000 in attempted thefts.
Police arrested John Barber, the fourth person allegedly connected to the scheme, on Tuesday.
Garcia, Tyler Felty, Mercedes Watson, and Mathaniel Worthy all face RICO and theft charges.
Worthy, the alleged mastermind, is the lone suspect still on the run.
Worthy is accused of helping to arrange for men who resemble the victims to enter the Peachtree Parkway branch and attempt to transfer money out of the victims’ accounts with fraudulent identification but with real banking information.
Ramirez remains puzzled by how the bank staff was deceived so quickly.
“They should have reached out to my other partners, as this isn’t a typical transaction,” he said.
Authorities believe the same five-person group attempted a similar heist last year, with an attempt to steal $170,000 from another victim from the same bank.
In response to the incident, Ramirez has increased cybersecurity measures for his business and is determined to keep a vigilant watch.
“We try to check the accounts 3, 4, or 5 times a day,” he stated, underscoring his resolve to prevent future fraud.
The suspects face 29 charges, collectively.
The charges include: Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO), records and reports of currency transactions (money laundering), theft by deception, conspiracy to commit a felony, and identity fraud.
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