Lynnwood man charged, accused of placing spy cameras in 2 Expedia bathrooms

SEATTLE - A Lynnwood man has been charged with multiple counts of voyeurism after investigators say he placed "spy cameras" in two bathrooms in Seattle's Expedia headquarters. He also told police he used those cameras to spy on his ex-wife without her knowledge, according to court documents. 

On Dec. 4, an employee at Expedia noticed something out of the ordinary under the sink next to him while he was on the toilet. According to that employee, he pulled the entire device off from under the sink. It was a white box with a cellphone-like device attached to it with Velcro on it. The employee, unsure of what to do with the device, put it back in place and contacted security. 

Security eventually responded and checked another bathroom that had a similar report. The found the same type of white box under the sink.

However, security supervisors ultimately decided to not take the devices out because they thought it was a music device or backup battery for the auto-soap dispensers, according to court documents. 

The initial reporting employee returned to work the next day and still saw the device there, according to court documents. Court documents say he began researching the device to see what it was and where to get it. He was only able to find the product on Amazon, so he wrote up a report and sent it to security, who gave the information to investigators. 

Employees were able to point out and identify a suspicious colleague to security. He allegedly returned to the bathroom twice when colleagues gathered outside after learning about the devices. Those colleagues were preventing anyone from going in.

"When the cameras were again discovered and the restrooms were placed out of order, the defendant was seen pacing nervously around the area and walking up to victims and witnesses, asking about what was happening," court documents explained. 

He was identified as Marcelo Vargas Fernandez. 

He was seen on surveillance footage going in and out of the bathrooms just before the cameras were discovered, court documents said. 

According to court documents, Fernandez's Amazon purchase history included the cameras that were found in the bathroom. 

An electronics-detecting dog was used when law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at his home and for his vehicle. A search of his car revealed two hidden spy cameras, and a search of his apartment showed at least 33 spy cameras and 22 SD cards for storage of digital evidence. 

Also found were individually packaged women's used underwear with dates on them. 

According to court documents, he said the underwear were "gifts he received in the past." He admitted to spying on his ex-wife in the past in her own home when they were going through their divorce.

He also admitted to using a hidden camera in his own apartment for the "purpose of recording interactions of him and his 4-year-old daughter to show he was not doing anything to her because his ex-wife had told him she had safety concerns of him being with their daughter," court documents said.

Fernandez does not have any known criminal convictions. 

He was charged with four counts of first-degree voyeurism and booked into the King County Jail. 

GeekWire.com reported that Fernandez was no longer an employee of Expedia. It's unclear how long he was with the company and what his role was. 

Detectives counted at least 10 people caught on the cameras attached in the bathrooms. 

Prosecutors asked that he be held on $200,000 bond.