COBB COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE PRESS RELEASE

Fraud Suspect Identified and Apprehended by the

Cobb County Sheriff’s Office

At approximately 9:00 am on Friday, November 4, 2011, Investigators from the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office arrested Akop Taymizyan on Warrant # 11-W-10388 for 3 counts of financial transaction card fraud and 1 count of violation of the RICO statute.   

Since his initial arrest, additional warrants for Taymizyan have been issued.  (Warrant numbers 11-W-10474, 75 for the charges of Financial Identity Fraud as well as Warrant number 11-W- 10501 for the charge of Financial Transaction Card Fraud.)

 This investigation began after the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office Fraud Unit received numerous complaints of victim’s checking accounts showing unauthorized usage at different ATM machines. Their individual P.I.N’s were used, but the victim’s A.T.M. cards were still in their possession. Through a cooperative investigation with Race Trac officials and local banks, Investigators were able to link legitimate usage by the victim of their debit card at Race Trac locations prior to their account being charged with unauthorized withdrawals. Tamizyan was able to use the victim’s account and P.I.N. information to withdraw money at several different ATM locations totaling approximately $3,800.

 Investigators conducted surveillance on a series of ATM locations and were able to locate and arrest Akop Taymizyan. At the time of his arrest, Taymizyan had over $6,800 in U.S currency and more than 120 gift cards encoded as A.T.M. cards in his vehicle.   Akop Taymizyan is not employed or associated with Race Trac according to their Human Resource Department and is currently in custody at the Cobb County Jail.  Also, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office as well as the Acworth Police Department are investigating complaints on Tamizyan with similar types of crimes.

Sheriff Neil Warren wants to remind citizens to frequently check their account after utilizing a debit card and to pay close attention for unusual or unauthorized transactions.  If anyone feels they may be a victim of this crime to please contact the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office Fraud Unit at (770) -499-4769.

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