York Regional Police say they have cracked a family-run gift card fraud scheme that bilked major retailers in the GTA out of $750,000.
Detectives with the major fraud unit launched an investigation last June when several loss-prevention officers complained to police about three people who bought merchandise with fraudulently-obtained gift cards.
Police said the suspects used fraudulent credit cards to buy legitimate gift cards from stores, and then used the gift cards to buy expensive items such as televisions, furniture and jewelry.
The merchandise was sold online for a profit.
In some cases, the suspects returned to stores and exchanged some of the goods for merchandise of a lesser value, and then pocketed the cash difference, police said in a news release Thursday.
After a month-long investigation, officers raided a home in Aurora, where they say they seized fraudulently-obtained merchandise, cash and equipment used to create fake identification.
Police said Zeba Chaudhry, 49, and Hasan Chaudhry, 21, of Aurora, and Waleed Chaudhry, 24, of Pickering are each charged with fraud, possession of property obtained by crime, use of credit card data, and possession of credit card data.
