A Chinese national’s gift card scheme that ended after Frazer police busted him in May has landed him in jail for at least 11/2 years, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Zhixiang Chen, 20, pleaded guilty in Lawrence County Court to corrupt organizations and organized retail crime. As part of his 1½- to 3-year sentence, Chen is banned from Walmart stores and is facing deportation proceedings.
Police connected Chen to the multistate scam in May, after a license plate reader found him in Frazer.
Those cameras caught Chen’s silver Toyota sedan, which was linked to 16 other thefts from Walmart stores across six states.
Frazer police say Chen attempted to leave the Pittsburgh Mills Walmart with 126 Apple gift cards worth nearly $9,000 stuffed into his pants and a denim jacket. The jacket had custom-made interior pockets to hold the cards.
Officers later found nearly 4,000 more Apple gift cards — potentially worth nearly $1 million — in his car.
It was all part of a gift card draining scheme that, authorities say, involved Chen stealing cards for several months from at least six Walmart stores in Western Pennsylvania.
Chen altered the cards to redirect funds to himself before putting them back on the shelves as merchandise at the store, authorities said. Customers who then purchased the altered cards had the balance drained and were left with valueless cards.
Authorities believe Chen and his associates made hundreds of thousands of dollars through the scheme.
Chen was ordered to forfeit $16,143 and the equipment used to commit the crimes, and pay a $25,000 fine.
“This defendant not only committed high-dollar thefts from retail stores, he also victimized consumers who bought the gift cards he had returned to store shelves after altering them for his own profit,” state Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a release.
“This conviction and prison sentence show our commitment to combating organized retail theft crimes that harm businesses and consumers.”
