Fort Worth man is at center of multistate fraud investigation
A Fort Worth man who worked for a document shredding company did not destroy bank records and instead shared them with thieves, according to court documents.
The number of potential victims is in the thousands and the total loss may be in the millions of dollars, a law enforcement source told NBC DFW.
Patrick Doucet, 43, of Fort Worth, drove a truck for Cintas Document Management, police said.The Ohio-based company promotes its off-site shredding business as safe and secure.
Major businesses, including an insurance company, contracted with Cintas to destroy their customers’ records.
The police investigation is outlined in a search warrant for Doucet’s North Fort Worth home. In a search of the house last week, police seized computers, cell phones and other items after investigators said they found a victim’s check in Doucet’s trash.
Doucet has not been arrested but the investigation is still very active, the source said.
According to the search warrant, the investigation started in Henry County, Georgia, in January.
Police there arrested Shanika Jackson, 37, of Atlanta, and charged her with writing fake checks in the name of a Bedford woman.
Investigators said she implicated Doucet and told them he worked for a document shredding company.
It is unclear how the two may know each other.
Fort Worth detectives said they confirmed Doucet was a truck driver for Cintas and that the thefts involved Cintas’ customers on his route.
Court documents label this a multi-state theft ring.
Police said a man near Seattle was robbed of his identity after he wrote a check to Allstate Insurance Company and mailed it to Dallas.
Detectives said they found the man’s torn-up check in a search of the trash in front of Doucet’s house and the victim later confirmed someone had recently tried to write fraudulent checks on his account.
Investigators also said they confirmed Allstate was one of the businesses on Doucet’s route.
In a statement, Allstate said, “We take our customer’s privacy very serious and are looking into the report.”
Allstate is the only Cintas client mentioned in the search warrant and it is not clear what other businesses and their customers may have been victimized.
Michelle Goret, Cintas’ director of corporate communications, did not respond to a phone message or emails late Friday.
Mike Hansen, Cintas’ vice president and treasurer, also did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Doucet did not answer his door Friday afternoon and could not be reached.
By: Scott Gordon / Source: http://www.nbcdfw.com/
