Below is a release from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE):
ORLANDO, Fla. – FDLE agents arrested Clifton Lee Sneed III, 30, on charges of unlawful possession of personal identification information, criminal use of personal identification, possession of credit card making equipment and forgery of a credit card. Investigators say Sneed used stolen personal information such as individual credit card numbers, names, addresses and birthdates to manufacture fraudulent credit, debit and gift cards while living at 9518 Water Orchid Ave. in Clermont.
The investigation began after Groveland Police Department received information about an illegal credit card scheme. During a search of Sneed’s Clermont home, Groveland Police officers found more than 350 credit, debit and gift cards, including over 250 blank or altered credit cards and equipment used for making fake credit cards.
FDLE began its investigation at the request of Groveland PD and examined hundreds of fraudulent credit cards and the digital information contained on those credit cards. Agents determined that 18 credit cards had information on the magnetic strip that did not match information on the front of the card. Agents contacted the financial institutions and individual victims who told agents their personal credit cards had been used fraudulently with charges from restaurants, gas stations and retail stores in Central Florida.
FDLE agents, along with Orlando PD officers, arrested Sneed Saturday morning at the Orlando International Airport as he was coming off a flight from Las Vegas. He was booked into the Orange County Jail on a $110,000 bond. This case will be prosecuted by Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.