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17 Charged in Counterfeit Credit Card Ring, DA Says

By Gwynne Hogan | July 3, 2015 2:05pm | Updated on July 3, 2015 10:26pm
 Seventeen men and women from Queens and Long Island used fake credit cards to merchandise at luxury stores, prosecutors said.
Seventeen men and women from Queens and Long Island used fake credit cards to merchandise at luxury stores, prosecutors said.
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QUEENS — A group of men and women were busted for forging credit cards and using them to buy pricey merchandise at supermarkets and luxury stores, the Queens District Attorney's office said Thursday.

The group of friends, aged between 20 and 28, used the falsified cards at Bloomingdale's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s, Target, Pathmark and Waldbaums supermarkets and purchased a slew of valuables including a pair of jeans worth more than $1,000, gift cards, flatware, an iPad Air 2, Gucci shoes and liquor, prosecutors said.

The arrests are the result of a year-long probe, investigators said.

Alexis Arrellano, 23, a Saks Fifth Avenue employee who was involved in the heist, rung up her accomplice Avion Smith, 26, who was using a fake card and waltzed out with more than $1,000 of the swanky merchandise, the DA said. 

Police rounded up 15 people involved in the scam on Wednesday and are still hunting for two more they say are involved, prosecutors said.

Fourteen of the accused were indicted on Wednesday, prosecutors said.

Investigators also found a loaded .40 caliber Glock, two boxes of ammo, $11,259 in cash, laptops, numerous blank credit cards, encoders and pressing machines as they arrested the defendants, police and prosecutors said.

The group faces charges of criminal possession of a forged instrument, fourth-degree grand larceny, petit larceny, attempted petit larceny and third-degree unlawful possession of personal identification information.

If convicted, the defendants could serve up to seven years in prison, prosecutors said.

Emendjer Mathurin, 24, who was in the room where the gun was confiscated, could serve 19 additional years in prison for weapons charges. He was scheduled for indictment on Thursday, prosecutors said.

Jamaica residents Dashawn Coggins, 27, Rashem Davis, 25, Brian Gwenden, 23, Amir Mohamed, 24, Vegelia Waters, 28, Isijola Olesegun, 24, were also arrested in the raid.

Peter John, 21, and Nicholas Pollard, 22, were also charged. Long Island resident Deemy Balbuena, 20, also faces charges.

Police were still looking for Jamaica residents Omar Majeed, 27, and Jasmine Blair, 27, as of Thursday afternoon.