Loudoun County deputies investigate crime, but in a case reported on Dec. 5, they were crime victims.
Someone used the Loudoun County Deputy Sheriff’s Association debit card number of Joshua C. Lowder, a county Sheriff’s Office lieutenant and association president, to illegally charge $2,746 to the association, according to a search warrant affidavit filed on Jan. 11 in Loudoun Circuit Court. The affidavit, filed by LCSO Detective Matthew Bucco, said no taxpayer money was involved. “Upon discovering the fraudulent charges, the debit card was immediately reported as lost/stolen and a new card was issued,” Bucco wrote.
The ten transactions were to Amazon and occurred between Aug. 8 and Sept. 9. Bucco didn’t say what was purchased. Bucco wrote that then-association treasurer Calvin Moore, an LCSO 2nd lieutenant, reported the fraud on Dec. 5 after reconciling association transactions, Bucco wrote.
New association officers are chosen every two years and LCSO spokeswoman Michele Bowman became treasurer this month. She said on Monday that an out of state “person of interest” is being investigated over the fraud.
Bowman said a few association members have debit cards. She said the debit card number was likely stolen online and the association wasn’t targeted.
Formed in 1988, the approximately 350-member association is a non-profit, non-partisan group designed to “build camaraderie and foster morale” within the agency and is open to all Sheriff’s Office employees, according to the association website. It is not connected to the Fraternal Order of Police or any other police unions.
Bowman said the association’s activities including raising money for scholarships for Loudoun County Public Schools students and for children of LCSO employees. It also raises money for employee families experiencing financial hardship such as medical bills. Morale-building events include a a bowling day and a family picnic.
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