D.A. SANDWICHED THESE GUYS IN?

DA VANCE ANNOUNCES INDICTMENT OF TWO FORMER SANDWICH SHOP EMPLOYEES FOR MAKING FORGED CREDIT CARDS USING STOLEN CUSTOMER INFORMATION

Earler this week, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the indictment of two former food service employees in Chelsea – NIGEL McCOLLUM, 22, and LENICA GREENE, 23 – in connection with a credit card-skimming operation that used the information of unsuspecting restaurant patrons to forge cards in the defendants’ names. McCOLLUM and GREENE are each charged in a 602-count indictment in New York State Supreme Court with Identity Theft, Forgery, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, Criminal Possession of Forgery Devices, and Grand Larceny, among other charges. [1]

“These days, it’s more likely that a New Yorker will have credit card information stolen at an ATM, a parking garage, a restaurant, or a shop than be mugged in a darkened alley,” said District Attorney Vance. “Technological advances have allowed my Office’s Cybercrime and Identity Theft Bureau to identify these points of vulnerability and aggressively pursue these 21st-century cases. I encourage anyone who believes that he or she may have been a victim of identity theft in Manhattan to call the Office’s Cybercrime and Identity Theft Hotline at 212-335-9600.”

According to the indictment and statements made on the record in court, McCOLLUM worked as an employee in the kitchen of a Pret A Manger location in Chelsea. Over a period of several months, he recruited staff members to skim the credit card numbers of more than 100 customers. The investigation is ongoing.

A search warrant executed at McCOLLUM’s apartment in connection with the investigation yielded, among other things, two card skimmers, two encoding devices, an embosser, stacks of blank cards, hundreds of forged credit cards in the defendant’s name, as well as multiple forged cards in the name of co-defendant GREENE, a former employee at a different Pret A Manager location.

McCOLLUM and GREENE are charged with using patrons’ credit card information to forge cards in their names, and using the cards to make personal purchases.

Since late 2011, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Cybercrime and Identity Theft Bureau has conducted investigations into five major cybercrime rings, one of which involved waiters at high-end Manhattan steakhouses who were recruited to steal credit card information from diners. On March 13, 2013, the leader of that operation, LUIS “DAMIAN” JACAS, was sentenced to 4 ½ -to-13 ½ years in state prison. The investigation culminated in the arrest and indictment of 29 people, all but three of whom have since pleaded guilty to a variety of crimes related to identity theft and card forgery.

Assistant District Attorney David Neeman and Assistant District Attorney Kenn Kern, Deputy Chief of the Cybercrime and Identity Theft Bureau, are handling the prosecution of the case, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Brenda Fischer, Chief of the Cybercrime and Identity Theft Bureau, and Executive Assistant District Attorney David M. Szuchman, Chief of the Investigation Division. Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Glickman, Deputy Chief of the Cybercrime and Identity Theft Bureau, Assistant District Attorney Emilio Estela, Deputy Chief of Trial Bureau 70, and Assistant District Attorney Michael Sachs, Chief of Staff to the Investigation Division, also provided valuable assistance. Cybercrime Analyst Mireilly Meiss also assisted with the case.

District Attorney Vance thanked Detective John Munari of the NYPD Financial Crimes Task Force, Police Officer James Lilla of the Patrol Borough Manhattan North Street Crime Unit, American Express Corporation, and Pret A Manger for their cooperation and assistance with the investigation.

[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.