CIVIC CENTER — A crew was busted for buying more than $400,000 worth of luxury goods from Bloomingdale’s Upper East Side and SoHo locations using stolen credit cards, the Manhattan District Attorney said.
Ivy Lian, 25, who worked at Bloomingdales' Christian Dior counter, stole Dior and Chanel handbags and wallets from the stores with the help of Yi Wu, 22, and Shih Tan, 27, prosecutors said. In all, the trio made more than 40 purchases between late March and early June using credit card info from at least 20 Chase Bank customers across the country, according to court documents. The crew was finally busted outside the high-end department store's 59th Street location on June 9.
"This case underscores the ever-growing cyber threat that company insiders can pose to their employers,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. in a statement.
"These defendants are charged with using stolen bank and credit card information to fund a weeks-long shopping spree, taking hundreds of thousands of dollars and victimizing dozens of unsuspecting cardholders from all over the country."
According to prosecutors, Lian would swipe defective cards Wu brought to the counter in an attempt to buy the high-end goods, prosecutors said.
If the cards were rejected, Wu would then read out stolen credit cards numbers from his cellphone that Tan had provided to him. Lian would then input the numbers into the credit card machine to complete the transactions.
The crew cleared $430,000 in purchases during the 10-week spending spree, prosecutors added.
Investigators found more than $1,200 in cash, eight credit or debit cards, a stolen driver’s license and the drug Ketamine on the crew after they were busted, according to court documents.
The three were indicted on charges including grand larceny, identity theft, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of personal identification.
They had been released on bail following their June arrest, but Wu's bail was increased to $400,000 bond at his Supreme Court indictment arraignment Wednesday.
Judge Gregory Carro ordered Tan held without bail, after he left the court following Wu's indictment arraignment and then later returned to court.
Lian was released after her arraignment.
Tan's lawyer, Eric Siegle, declined to comment after his hearing.
Bloomingdale's officials also declined to comment.
