A Texas man was arrested after running an illegal gasoline station from his house.
Yelson Valdez Martinez, a local ABC affiliate WFAA, was arrested in Mount Round.
After being monitored by a task team consisting of officers from the Dallas Police Financial Crimes Unit and the General Services Administration, this was confirmed.
Martinez’s truck and a large plastic container were taken. Lt. Julio Gonzalez with the Dallas Police Financial Crimes Unit stated to WFAA that Martinez’s truck was also confiscated. Gonzalez said that Martinez was using stolen diesel fuel, which was being sold on.
Gonzalez stated that Martinez was running his own gas station and selling the fuel at a lower price. Martinez claimed that Martinez purchased the fuel using credit and debit cards. He is also accused of installing a skimmer device at gas pumps.
The officer stated that “bad guys” will have a skimmer on their cards. This information will be sent to the bad guy and the bad guy will create a new card using devices purchased from amazon. He will also have a working credit card with this information.
Gonzalez stated that most victims of credit card and debit card fraud are not aware of it until they have made hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchases. Gonzalez confirmed that the department was looking for potential victims.
Martinez was first investigated by the task force after his neighbor became suspicious of a strong odor coming from their garage and seeing trucks enter it at night.
WFAA was told by a neighbor who declined to identify himself. He said that Martinez started to make suspicious activity and set up cameras to capture trucks pulling up to his garage to fill up with gas.
He stated that the garage door would never close and that someone would occasionally honk at it, which could be annoying in the middle night. He added, “The garage door will open and the hose will come out, and they’ll start filling up.”
WFAA shared footage that allegedly shows this happening.
Police believe the scheme is part a larger operation in Dallas Fort Worth and advised people to be aware.
