DETROIT – Two Chinese nationals have been arrested in Dearborn in connection with a large-scale gift card fraud scheme.
Guangji Zhang and Huachao Sun were charged March 7 with conducting a criminal enterprise and two counts of possession of a fraudulent or altered transaction device.
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According to authorities, the men would steal empty, unsold gift cards from stores, record the cards' redemption numbers, conceal the tampering and return the cards to the stores. Using computer programs, they allegedly monitored when these cards were activated and transferred the loaded funds to their own digital accounts, leaving the gift cards depleted when redeemed by unsuspecting recipients.
The investigation began when United States Postal Inspection Service found a package that contained more than 1,500 gift cards that were addressed to the two men at a hotel in Dearborn.
Law enforcement then tracked the two men as they allegedly replaced the altered gift cards at Meijer stores in White Lake, Waterford, Auburn Hils, Southgate, Allen Park and Taylor.
The two men were arrested March 5 and a search of their vehicle and hotel room uncovered more than 3,000 gift cards.
The two men have a probable cause conference scheduled March 18.
