Two Florida A&M students are being held in Leon County Jail after being accused of credit card fraud that, investigators say, cost people hundreds of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges.
Both Audrey Kennedy, 22, and Devin Paschall, 20, were each charged with 182 counts of credit card fraud and identity theft, according to the Leon County Sheriff’s Office.
The two were initially arrested on Sept. 22 after several people complained about unauthorized charges on their credit cards and investigators were able to locate the business where the unauthorized charges were made, said Detective Cox Well of the Leon County Sheriff Office.
“We found out that one of the places where these frauds were taking place was at a Circle K gas station,” Well said. “Through surveillance cameras, we found that Audrey Kennedy was working the hours these credit card frauds were taking place.”
The Circle K is located on 2807 S. Monroe St.
Well said after Kennedy ran the customers’ credit cards through a scanning device she then ran the cards through another unauthorized device, called a ‘scammer,’ and watched them as they entered their personal identity numbers.
“More than a couple hundred thousand dollars was used in these credit frauds,” Well said.
According to Well, there is a mastermind behind these credit fraud schemes, but police said they will not release the name because it is an ongoing case.
Kennedy and Paschall are each being held on more than $150,000 bail, jail records show.Well said they had arrested Paschall who was working at the same Circle K but had quit two weeks before.
Some students feel that Kennedy’s crime was a huge mistake.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” said Milan Thompson, 22, a healthcare student from Jacksonville. “If she was a student, she should have acted like a professional knowing that a felon crime would be on her record forever.”
Other students think that both Kennedy and Paschall’s crime is going to cost them.
“When people do a crime, they don’t think about the consequences,” said Dirul Munajj, 22, an electronic engineer student from Miami. “Now both these students may spend half if not their whole life in prison.”
Police have also arrested Gabrielle Butler, 21, on the same charges as Kennedy and Paschall in connection with the credit card fraud.