Two Florida men accused of running $90K financial card fraud scheme
Police in Wilmington, North Carolina, have arrested two Florida men accused of running a financial card fraud scheme that stole tens of thousands of dollars from victims. According to officials, Adryan Hernandez, 21, and Alejandro Gonzalez Almeida, 22, were both charged with one count of felony financial card forgery. Police were dispatched Tuesday night to an ATM in the 3500 block of South College Road after a witness reported one of the men was using over a dozen cards and withdrawing large amounts of money. Officers responded to the scene and detained the two men.
A search warrant was executed at their hotel room and police found evidence of a manufacturing operation for credit cards. Officers seized computers, magnetic card makers, prepaid money orders, receipts for money wires, and a large sum of cash. Officials said the operation netted the men more than $90,000 in cash and money orders. Investigators have located at least two victims in North Carolina. Hernandez and Almeida were both booked into the New Hanover County Jail and given $100,000 bonds each. [For more: WECT6 News]
Shoplifting suspect accused of pepper spraying Bi-Lo manager
Police in Greer, South Carolina, are looking for a woman accused of pepper spraying a Bi-Lo manager while shoplifting. Police say she threatened to do the same at a Target store.Greer Police posted the following on their Facebook page:
“On July 6, female shoplifted from Bi Lo in Greer and Target in Taylors.
She took several grocery items from Bi-Lo around 7:10 a.m. She pepper sprayed the manager who had followed to get her license plate number before she fled in a gold colored 200 Toyota Camry.
Twelve hours later, the suspect shoplifted about $200 worth of clothes from Target in Taylors. A loss prevention associate tried to stop her, and she pointed the pepper spray at the officer and demanded that he back off before she fled.
Anyone with information about the woman’s identity is asked to e-mail tellis@cityofgreer.org or call 864-877-7906.” [For more: WSPA7 News]
Woman busted for using fake ID to purchase thousands in merchandise
A woman was busted by police for allegedly using a fake ID to purchase thousands of dollars in merchandise from the Kohl’s in Westgate, Ohio. Police call it a fraudulent purchase. “I take your ID, or your credit card account, have a fake ID in your name and go charge whatever I want in your name,” said Lt. Paul Shepard with Fairview Park police. The woman, with two fake IDs in hand, is accused of pretending to be a legitimate Kohl’s charge customer. She purchased hundreds of dollars in jewelry and more than a thousand dollars total on the account, police said. “The sales associate asked for ID, the woman produced a fake ID in the name of the account holder and made a transaction,” Lt. Shepard said. He said the store and police had been alerted of groups doing this at the retail chain, so when she raised a red flag to an associate, police followed up. “Good investigation! They ended up recovering about $7,000 in stolen merchandise,” Lt. Shepard said. Kohl’s corporate offices will not share any information on loss prevention. So how do you protect yourself? “Every year you can do a credit check to see if you have accounts in your name. Check your bills! Don’t just pay them blindly,” Lt. Shepard said. [For more: News5 Cleveland]
Employee accused of stealing $110,000 in gift card scheme pleads no contest to theft
A former Brix employee accused of stealing more than $110,000 in a gift card scheme has pleaded no contest to theft. In return, prosecutors dropped a second theft charge against Brenton McLaurine, 30. McLaurine faces a maximum of four years in prison, two years’ probation and a $25,000 fine when he is sentenced on the theft-by-deception charge in September. He posted $10,000 bail to be released from jail in October. Both locations of Brix, a wine and spirits store, closed suddenly in early January. Customers were left with gift cards that they couldn’t redeem, although other local stores offered discounts to those with Brix cards. The company auctioned off its inventory in March and its sister bar, Grane, closed at the end of February. Dan Matuszek, the owner of Brix and Grane, said he couldn’t comment on the case but said McLaurine will have to pay “some type of” restitution to the company. McLaurine had worked at the Village Pointe location but was fired on May 3, 2016, after a manager discovered receipts with tip totals that didn’t match the cash due to servers. The manager found multiple gift cards that had balances in the thousands of dollars, including one that reached $68,445.46, according to an affidavit. The company’s software allowed employees to add money to a gift card through a cash transaction and then void it, leaving the total on the card. McLaurine was the only employee present during the gift card transactions, according to alarm system and keypad records, the affidavit said. [For more: Omaha World-Ledger]
Employee accused of $30,000 in thefts
The post Breaking News in the Industry: July 20, 2017 appeared first on LPM.