Alachua County deputies arrest 2 people with 1,700 fraudulent gift cards
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - Alachua County Sheriff’s deputies say a Chinese-born man and woman were arrested after they were caught with more than 1,700 counterfeit gift cards.
Cheng Li, 25, and Jiaxin Jiang, 24 were arrested on fraud, counterfeiting, and larceny charges during a traffic stop on Wednesday. Deputies say the pair had more than $158,000 worth of fraudulent gift cards, plus equipment to forge more.
When speaking to deputies, they initially claimed they were driving to Orlando to “see a crocodile” however, their GPS was set to a Target store in Ocala.
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Deputies spoke with a representative from Target who explained their stores have been experiencing organized gift card fraud. A group of individuals is stealing cards from various stores and shipping them to other locations to be reencoded.
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