Man arrested, tied to theft of $100,000 from Fargo area ATMs

FARGO, ND (Valley News Live) – During a traffic stop on November 1, 25-year-old Henry Theis was found with $24,800 in cash in a bag on the passenger side floorboard of his vehicle, according to court documents.

The same vehicle was reportedly involved in an attempted theft at an ATM in Fargo earlier in the evening.

The vehicle had temporary Texas tags and Theis spoke to officers in Spanish. He told officers that he is not a U.S. citizen, but is from Venezuela and lives in Dallas, Texas. According to court documents, he told officers he was in the area for “roofing.”

He allegedly told officers that he was part of a group of four hackers who used a code to access and withdraw money from various ATMs. He also noted that there was another group of Venezuelan men committing similar crimes in the area and calling themselves “the magicians.”

Police say there have been several other reports of the same type of theft in the Fargo-West Fargo area in recent weeks alone. The amount suspected to have been stolen is almost $100,000. Reports from other states have reported similar thefts from ATMs for thousands of dollars more.

Court documents show most of the suspects are South Americans in vehicles with Texas license plates. According to the documents, it is suspected that it may be gang-related. A 9mm casing was also found in Theis’ vehicle, according to court documents.

His preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 18.