NASHVILLE – A Hot Springs man wanted on allegations of financial identity theft entered a not guilty plea Wednesday in Howard County Circuit Court.
Edward Wagner Jr., 27, was ordered to return to court July 29 for a mandatory appearance, although his pretrial date has been scheduled for Aug. 5. Court documents indicate that the charge against Wagner is the result of an investigation that began May 31, 2013, when city officers received a report that 18 applications had been made to Citibank listing the address of 318 Sixth St. in Nashville.
“Four of those accounts were approved,” then-investigator Amy Marion wrote in an affidavit of arrest attached to Wagner’s case file. “Two accounts were approved under a valid social security number belonging to Jesse Medler; however, the name on the applications was Edward Wagner. Two other accounts were approved under a valid social security number belonging to Michelle Villarreal; however, the name on these applications was Miguel Ornelas.”
All four accounts were approved in February of that year, according to the affidavit, and none of the owners of the social security numbers used to garner approval had given authorization. The affidavit further alleges that a payment was made on Wagner’s fines in Howard County District Court with one of the credit cards.
Now Assistant Police Chief, Marion said Friday that city officers had been searching for Wagner since the initial investigation but finally located him in Kansas City, Missouri last week. He is currently out of jail on a $25,000 bond.
