By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A ring of identity thieves used stolen credit card information to buy Macbooks, iPods and iPhones at Apple stores across the country, stealing nearly $1 million in electronics for black market resale, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The New York-based ring, which was 27 people strong, was nabbed after a lengthy investigation by the United States Secret Service and the Manhattan District Attorney.
They manufactured phony plastic using account information stolen from thousands of victims and created counterfeit cards between May 2009 and December 2010, prosecutors said in court Tuesday.
Each of their purchases ranged from several hundred dollars to about $3,000. They sent buyers to stores in New York and New Jersey and to cities nationwide including Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Orlando and Atlanta.
Several of the defendants received, sent and stored stolen credit card information using Yahoo e-mail accounts, the indictment says.
The alleged leader of the scam was Shaheed Bilal, 28. He was caught "bragging along with his brother," via Twitter about the use of the stolen cards. His brother, Ali Bilal, was also charged.
Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Roper said there was a credit card encoding machine in Shaheed Bilal's apartment.
The ringleader, who recently did a stint at Rikers Island and allegedly ran the operation from jail, was ordered held on $1 million bail at his arraignment.
Another defendant, Gil Einhorn, 26, was allegedly the main buyer of the stolen Apple products, prosecutors said.
He was allegedly caught on surveillance buying "large bundles" of the stolen goods, Roper said.
Einhorn's lawyer, Steven Kartagener, said the life-long Brooklyn resident is a "fundamentally decent man" who will be vindicated as the case proceeds. He was ordered held on $500,000 bail.
Fewer than ten of the alleged conspirators were arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday. They pleaded not guilty. The rest were expected to be brought in Wednesday. Most of the defendants arraigned Tuesday reside in Brooklyn.
The defendants were charged with grand larceny and possession of a forged instrument.
The indictment did not specify which New York Apple stores were targeted. There are four Apple retail stores in Manhattan alone.
Vance is expected to announce the takedown on Wednesday morning.
