On September 28, 2006, Montgomery County Police Fraud investigators began a joint investigation with the United States Secret Service, into purchases made by the use of credit card numbers stolen from Montgomery County residents earlier during the year. The preliminary investigation revealed that all of the victims had been customers of The Daily Grill located at 1 Bethesda Metro Center in Bethesda. With the help of information from the restaurant, investigators developed an employee of the grill as the suspect—Dickson Mgeta Mkama, age 28, of the 1400 block of Blair Mill Road in Silver Spring. They found that fraudulent transactions were made using the customer’s credit card numbers, soon after they ate at the grill. These customers were at the grill during the times that Mkama was on duty as a waiter.
Further investigation of Mkama revealed that, as an employee of the grill, he had been using an assumed name, as well as a false social security number and false date of birth, all stolen from a man who lived in Massachusetts. It was also found that Mkama, who had entered the United States on January 2001 on a visa from Dare Es Salaam, Tanzania, was listed by Immigration Customs Enforcement as in an overstay status, and that he did not have authorization to be employed in Maryland.
An arrest warrant was obtained for Mkama, charging him with identity theft, and the use of a fraudulent identity to obtain goods/services. Further charges may be pending.
Mkama was arrested on October 18. He is currently being held on $25,000 bond at the Montgomery County Detention Center.
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