Morris Prosecutor: Morristown Man Arrested for Email Scam Against Atlanta Transit System

Published on September 01, 2018

Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp and Chief of Investigations Stephen F. Wilson, Jr. announce the arrest of Pedro Lopez-Hernandez, 38, of Morristown, on various theft related charges connected to an email scheme targeting the city of Atlanta's transit system.

(, 0B)The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) was the victim of this business email scheme. MARTA received false invoice instructions, in a compromised email, from a known vendor's account that instructed that payments should be made to an updated Bank of America account.

Based on this fraudulent email, MARTA made two payments totaling $399,025. The investigation determined this money was deposited into Lopez-Hernandez' updated Bank of America bank account.

The defendant is not an employee or in any way associated with MARTA or Bank of America. The defendant subsequently depleted the updated bank account in its entirety by using cash withdrawals and wire transfers.

Lopez-Hernandez has been charged with the following offenses: Receiving Stolen Property, Theft by Deception; Financial Facilitation of Criminal Activity, or Money Laundering; and Conspiracy to Commit Theft by Deception.

Prosecutor Knapp would like to thank the Morris County Prosecutor's Office Specialized Crimes, Financial Crimes Unit; Morris County Prosecutor's Office Fugitive Unit and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, Division of Police Services, whose efforts contributed to the investigation of this case.

Inquiries should be directed to Public Information Officer Peter DiGennaro at pressinquiry@co.morris.nj.us or 973-829-8159.