The Clive Police Department in Iowa has identified a man wanted in a nationwide credit card theft ring. According to Clive police, Nicolae Marius Barbu used stolen credit cards stolen at an Apple Store and Best Buy located at the Jordan Creek Town Center.
Police said Barbu also attempted to use the credit cards at a Best Buy on University Avenue in West Des Moines. Clive police Detective Maurio Coleman said Barbu is working with a larger operation. “I believe he’s Romanian,” Coleman said. “He’s basically part of a theft ring. We believe they are all Romanian or eastern Europeans.”
Coleman said another man, who has not been identified, stole the credit cards from lockers at the Aspen Athletic Club in Clive on October 10. He said Barbu, the unidentified man and others involved are responsible for similar crimes in Ankeny and around the country. “We have been sharing information through email and other data bases, basically identifying this guy because they had him also in similar types of crimes,” Coleman said.
According to police, Barbu was last seen on the East Coast and was driving a vehicle with New York State license plates. Coleman said locating Barbu is a key first step toward dismantling the nationwide crime… KCCI8 News