Four men face hundreds of charges in connection with a huge gift card scam discovered by the St. Matthews Police Department.
On Saturday, officers discovered thousands of fake gift cards related to an organized crime scam affecting people all throughout the country.
Chief Barry Wilkerson told WLKY that the bogus gift cards confiscated from suspects are worth at least $1 million.
Wilkerson stated that a suspect was caught putting altered cards on the rack at the Kroger on North Hubbards Lane in St. Matthews. Surveillance footage from October 19 shows a man spending a long time in the store’s gift card aisle. A store employee reported him to police, who determined he was working with three others.
“All the ones that we have caught so far have been Chinese Nationalists,” Wilkerson informed the crowd.
On Saturday, police arrested four men: Chaoming Lin, Zhiqiang Huang, Huixing Yu, and Tianlong Chen. Lin and Huang have been charged with 999 counts of criminal possession of a fake instrument. Yu and Chen are each charged with three counts: criminal possession of a forged instrument, fleeing or evading police, and engaging in organized crime.
Where Does the Money Go?
They are accused of opening gift cards at major retail establishments to retrieve serial numbers, resealing them in their original packaging, and returning them to store shelves. When the cards were activated, they allegedly stole the money that had been deposited into them.
“What are they using the money for?” Wilkerson stated. “Is it related to terrorism?” I do not know. That is why we send these instances on to federal agencies so they may take a closer look and get a clearer sense of what or how serious these cases are.”
St. Matthews police turned over the case to the US Department of Homeland Security, which identified it as part of a Chinese-led organized crime organization. The four suspects allegedly targeted stores in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky.
The Kentucky Retail Federation informed WLKY that this has become an increasing issue across the state over the last year.
“Kentucky seems to be a center point just because we have three major interstates that crisscross the state,” stated spokesperson Steve McClain.
According to McClain, the federation plans to meet with Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman to advocate for tighter regulations to combat this crime at large shops. According to WLKY, the average punishment is a short jail or prison sentence.
“Most of these cases are amended down, sadly, just to get them through the process,” Wilkerson pointed out.
Customers are Warned to Use Caution
Meanwhile, authorities urge buyers to exercise caution when purchasing gift cards from Kroger and other grocery or retail chains. They gave the following recommendations.
Inspect the package. If a gift card appears to be tampered with, do not purchase it. Keep the activation code receipt and distribute it to gift card recipients. Consider purchasing gift cards directly from the firm rather than from a rack at a major retailer, or buy them online from the company’s website.
If you believe you have been a victim of a gift card fraud, report it to the gift card company immediately and get a refund. You should also make a report with the police and the FTC.