QUEENS, New York-based Guyanese brothers, Christopher and Bryan Nathoo, and their wives, were among 13 people who were indicted on Wednesday, July 10, 2019 in an alleged US $24M gift-card scam that operated since 2015, and investigated by the NYPD Grand Larceny Division.

A release from the District Attorney, Queens County, 125-01 Queens Boulevard, Kew Gardens, New York, stated that Acting Queens District Attorney, John M. Ryan, was joined by New York City Police Commissioner, James P. O’Neill, and New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent, Linda A. Lacewell, to announce the indictment by a Queens County grand jury, charging the 13 individuals with enterprise corruption, grand larceny, conspiracy, money laundering and other crimes for allegedly running a complex gift card “washing” scheme.

The scam that allegedly generated roughly one million dollars every month for two years included buying credit card numbers from the dark web, going on shopping sprees with the legitimate gift cards and using an online option to exchange gift cards for cash, as well as laundering money through a Bronx check cashing establishment.

The main defendants in the operation, Christopher Nathoo, 33, of Glen Oaks, and his brother, Bryan Nathoo, 30, of Dix Hills, NY, along with the other 11 defendants, face a 192-count indictment with enterprise corruption, grand larceny, conspiracy and other crimes.
The others are Ajay Bangay, 28, of 133 Street, Queens–the alleged manager of Fence; Annarissa Nathoo, 32, of Arista Drive, Suffolk County, Long Island — an alleged shopper; Hama Nathoo, 32, of 256th Street, Queens — an alleged shopper; Amelia “Millie” Salamalay,27, of 189 Street, Queens– an alleged Fence employee; Rashaad Solomon, 22, of Patchogue, Suffolk County, Long Island — an alleged shopper; Fredie Polo, 58, of Andrea Place, Staten Island– an alleged shopper; Mayir “Alex” Kressner, 37, of Canary Drive, Lakewood, New Jersey– an employee of Card Cash; Aqueel Khan, 40, of Old South Road, Queens — alleged money launderer; Volney Myers, 33, of Hungry Harbour Road, Queens– the alleged swiper/boss; Lavau Auguste, 26, of 101 Avenue, Queens – an alleged swiper and Evan Christian, 23, of Forest Road in Nassau County, Long Island — an alleged swiper.
If convicted, many of the defendants could face prison sentences ranging from one year to 25 years.

“This indictment is the culmination of a three-year-long investigation into a multi-faceted illegal operation that bilked millions of dollars from banks and department stores, and caused extreme damage to the credit scores of innumerable citizens.

“The defendants charged in this case ‘washed’ gift cards purchased with fraudulent credit cards to fill their pockets and bank accounts with millions of dollars — the bosses allegedly even did home improvements using these scrubbed gift cards. This criminal enterprise has been shut down and the defendants face prison time for their alleged greed at the expense of others,” Ryan was quoted as saying.

According to the charges, in 2015, the NYPD began to investigate an illegal operation (a “fence”) based in Jamaica, Queens, that was originally located at 150th Street, and eventually moved to Liberty Avenue. The fence, which was allegedly run by Christopher and Bryan Nathoo, allegedly bought gift cards purchased with fraudulent credit cards and then re-sold those gift cards to Cardcash.com, an online gift card exchange business. However, the investigation found that the scheme was far more elaborate than this.

The illegal enterprise allegedly had specific roles for each individual involved, including fence manager, swipers, shoppers, fence employees, money launderer and more. Those who were swipers acquired stolen credit card numbers from the dark web and embossed the information onto blank cards. The swipers would then use these fake credit cards and go to stores such as Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom’s and Target and buy legitimate store gift cards for varying sums. The swipers would then sell the legitimate gift cards to the fence.

Once the cards were in the fence, according to the indictment, gift cards would then allegedly go through a “washing” process, where the swipers or shoppers would go to department stores, buy merchandise and return the items for either a “cleaned” gift card or store credit, which would further remove it from the fraudulently purchased gift card, making it less likely to be connected to the fraudulently purchased one and deactivated by the bank.

The charges alleged, too, that the Nathoo brothers recruited their wives, Hama Nathoo and Annarrisa Nathoo, respectively, to take on some of the shopping responsibilities. Hama Nathoo allegedly used the “cleaned” gift cards for personal purchases, including buying Home Depot gift cards and buying items to renovate the couple’s home, while Annarrisa Nathoo also allegedly used “cleaned” cards to make online purchases for herself and also used the gift cards to remodel the couple’s new home purchased in Suffolk County.
Many shoppers in the operation would, it is alleged, repeatedly buy merchandise, return it for another gift card and repeat the process over and over again to get further and further away from the first fraudulently purchased gift card. The shoppers were said to be paid $10 an hour or $100 for the day, and they would allegedly pay the swipers a percentage for each gift card.

The indictment states that one employee at Cardcash.com allegedly handled the Nathoo brothers business exclusively, and bought the illegal enterprise’s gift cards, earning the website a profit of up to 20 per-cent of the value of the gift cards. At times, the employee met with the Nathoo brothers to deliver checks, which were then laundered through shell companies — that existed in name only — with the assistance of the manager of Uniondale Check Cashing in the Bronx. The Bronx check cashing establishment would collect a two per-cent take for each transaction, with the manager pocketing one per-cent for himself.
The operation allegedly generated approximately $1 million in profits every single month, in 2016 and 2017, as a result of this scheme, with profits said to have dipped in 2018. However the operation still made money, the charges noted.

During the court-authorised searches on July 10, 2019, by the police, they allegedly recovered more than 8,000 gift cards from various retailers, as well as Visa, Master card and American Express gift cards.