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Four Defendants Charged In Wire Fraud Conspiracy
Atlanta, GA – Robert Lee Hatcher III, Willie Dewayne Lynch, Andrew Oliver, and Arthur James Freeman have been charged with participating in a scheme to defraud Home Depot over a period of several years.
According to United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates, the defendants are accused of defrauding Home Depot in ten states, spanning from Kentucky to Florida and west to Texas.
‘The Secret Service has established a long history of protecting the American consumer and private industry from various types of prepaid and credit card fraud,’ said Reginald Moore, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service in Atlanta.
Starting in January 2011, Hatcher, Lynch, and Oliver allegedly entered Home Depot stores in multiple states, selected items for purchase, and then covered the UPC labels on high-priced merchandise with UPC labels removed from lower-priced merchandise, a practice known as ‘ticket-switching.’
After fraudulently purchasing the merchandise, the defendants removed the lower-priced UPC label, revealing the original, higher-priced UPC label. They then returned the fraudulently purchased merchandise without a receipt to obtain refund credit cards in the amount of the actual, and higher, retail price of the merchandise.
Defendant Robert Lee Hatcher III, 31, of Atlanta, GA, Willie Dewayne Lynch, 29, of Atlanta, GA, have been arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Justin S. Anand. Defendant Arthur James Freeman, 53, of Atlanta, GA, is scheduled to be arraigned on April 25, 2014. Defendant Andrew Oliver, 61, of Stone Mountain, GA, is still at large.
‘A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial,’ stated United States Attorney Yates.
The case is being investigated by Special Agents of the United States Secret Service, with the assistance of criminal investigators from the Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection, the Gwinnett County Police Department, the Woodstock Police Department, the Atlanta Police Department, and Corporate Investigators with The Home Depot, Inc.
Assistant United States Attorneys Teresa D. Hoyt and Jeffrey W. Davis are prosecuting the case.
Key Facts
- State: Georgia
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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