CONYERS - An Atlanta man was arrested after 75 prepaid debit cards were found inside his vehicle, none of which belonged to the suspect.
Nosakhare Owie, 32, is being charged with 75 counts of financial transaction card theft, with each count representing one card in his possession that doesn't belong to him. Some of the cards, 62 VISAs, nine MasterCards, three gas cards and one Wal-Mart card, had other people's names etched in the card, says Rockdale County Sheriff's Office Cpl. Michael Camp.
Under Georgia law, it's a felony to possess or use another person's credit or debit card without their consent.
"We're still looking to see if they're stolen," said Camp. "They could be tax refund cards. It could be all kinds of stuff."
The cards were discovered Friday afternoon by two people who were working to install an interlock device in Owie's car. An interlock device is sort of like a breathalyzer and usually gets installed in people's car because of a court order for a person having a certain amount of driving under the influence charges, says Camp.
"They stated that they were getting ready to run wires under the hood when they discovered what appeared to be trash," RCSO Deputy Jerry Poreba wrote in his incident report. "The item, had cardboard around it and had multiple items inside a panty[hose]-like fabric."
The two Conyers residents then put the item back "exactly where they found" it and called 911.
When Deputy Poreba arrived at the scene, he "saw the item they described slightly hidden inside the engine block" of the car. He then removed the item and discovered it "there were multiple credit cards with different name on them."
RCSO investigators are still trying to identify how much money in total are on the cards and who the cards belong to. If they are stolen tax refund cards, it could be "thousands and thousands of dollars" Owie took from people, who may live in other parts of the country, says Camp.
"These cards could've come from anywhere," said Camp.
Owie is currently in Rockdale County Jail.
Additional charges could follow pending the investigation.
