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Thursday, March 28, 2024
Angelo Alberto Riddell

Riddell

A fugitive facing charges in a flurry of ATM card scams has been returned to the state for trial, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan and Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian said this week.

Angelo Alberto Riddell, 56, of Cambridge, is accused of contacting Wells Fargo Bank and claiming to be seven other customers – who had moved and needed new ATM and debit cards sent to them. Once he got the cards, Riddell made nearly $44,000 worth of transactions from local cash machines from January to March of last year, officials said. The money came from the victims’ accounts.

“Quick action and a coordinated response by Cambridge Police, bank employees and customers shut down this fraud, preventing even more financial damage,” Ryan said. “These kinds of schemes are fast-moving and sometimes it can take several months before victims see that their accounts have been affected.”

In this case, Cambridge Police arrested Riddell on March 5, 2014, and he was indicted the following July 29. Before his Aug. 6, 2014, arraignment in Superior Court, the defendant fled the state.

More than a year later – on Nov. 23 the defendant was found in Florida and held on a fugitive warrant, then returned to Massachusetts by over the weekend of Dec. 5 for arraignment. “Thanks to the collaborative effort between our law enforcement partners in Florida and Middlesex County, this defendant has been returned to the Commonwealth to stand trial,” Ryan said.

A social media account held by Riddell discusses serious health problems affecting his heart and spine, including difficulty walking. On July 4, a post says that “Due to detrimental health and the need to resolve bad karma I will be gone,” giving goodbyes and “Thanks to all I have known.”

The actual charges for Riddell were larceny over $250; money laundering; receiving stolen property; and “being a common and notorious thief.” Clerk Magistrate Michael Sullivan ordered the defendant held in lieu of $100,000 cash bail with conditions that if he posted bail, he check in with probation weekly, not leave the state without court permission and sign a waiver of rendition. The next scheduled hearing is this case is Dec. 29.