Three Brooklyn residents apparently thought Batavia would be a good place to try and pass some fraudulent credit cards, but alert employees at local stores tripped them up and all three are now in custody.
The Sheriff's Office was first alerted to suspicious activity by an employee of Rite-Aid, who reported two men were attempting to buy items using several different credit cards.
Their descriptions were given to patrols and dispatchers alerted other area stores.
A short time later, a loss prevention officer at Walmart reported the men were at the store by the Subway concession.
Deputies responded and spoke with the subjects and a third companion was located.
All three subjects were allegedly found in possession of fraudulent credit and debit cards.
Investigators believe the suspects cloned cards with other people's information and then tried to use the fake cards to purchase authentic gift cards for themselves.
Arrested were:
- Monta H. Little, 20, of Bushwick Street, Brooklyn, charged with 28 counts of criminal possessioni of a forged instrument 2nd. Little allegedly held 27 fradulent credit and debit cards and one fradulent New Jerese driver's license.
- Robert T. Assing Jr., 20, of Humbolt Street, Brooklyn, charged with seven counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument for allegedly possessing seven fradulent credit and debit cards.
- Nelson Grant Jr., 26, of Seigel Street, Brooklyn, charged with five counts of possession of a forged instrument, 2nd, for allegedly possessing five fradulent credit and debit cards.
The three suspects were arraigned in Town of Batavia Court and ordered held on $10,000 bail each.
The investigation was conducted by Deputy Joseph Corona, Deputy Chris Erion and K-9 Destro, Deputy Joseph Graff, Investigator Roger Stone, Sgt. Ron Meides, along with Trooper Eric Daigler and Trooper Eggert. An agent of the Secret Service also assisted in the investigation.
Using the old "judging a book
Using the old "judging a book by it's cover" adage, I got to wondering.
As the accused pictures would appear to indicate, the huskiest-to-slimmest person correlates to the number of fraudulent cards each alledgedly had.
Take more, eat more?