HARLEM — A Costco employee used a fake credit card to purchase $6,000 in store gift cards last month, police said.
Anthony Harris, 24, was approached by an unidentified person days before June 26 who asked him to purchase gift cards using a phony Visa card, according to a criminal complaint.
Harris, an employee at the Costco in East River Plaza, agreed — buying one $1,000 transaction on June 26 and five additional $1,000 transactions throughout the day during his Costco shift on June 27, according to the criminal complaint.
Police said Harris sold the gift cards to an acquaintance.
A store manager discovered the fraudulent transactions and alerted the police. Harris was arrested last Thursday and was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court the following Friday, according to the DA’s office.
Harris was charged with grand larceny, criminal possession of a forged instrument — both of which are felonies — and petit larceny, a misdemeanor.
Harris was released without bail, the DA’s office said.
Police said Harris wrote a statement “admitting to selling the gift cards” and said he knew the credit card used to purchase the gift cards was fake.
He is expected to appear in court again on Sept. 19, the DA’s office said.
A phone call to Harris’ lawyer, Elizabeth Fischer with Harlem Neighborhood Defender Services, was not immediately returned.
It is unknown who Harris claims approached him with the credit card.
