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QUEENS WEEKLY, JULY 21, 2019
Queens residents busted in gift card ‘washing’ scheme
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
Thirteen people,
including seven from
Queens, were arrested
for their alleged roles in
running a multimilliondollar
gift card “washing”
scheme, prosecutors
announced on July 10.
According to the
DA’s office, the scam
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 operation allegedly
generated roughly $1
million every month for
two years.
The main defendants in
the operation are identified
as Christopher Nathoo,
33, of Glen Oaks, and his
brother Bryan Nathoo,
30, of Dix Hills, NY, both
of whom allegedly ran
the ring with their wives.
They, as well as the 11 other
defendants, face a 192-count
indictment with enterprise
corruption, grand larceny,
conspiracy and other
crimes. An addendum of
the names and charges
of the 13 individuals is
available here.
If convicted, many
of the defendants could
face prison sentences
ranging from one to 25
years.
“This indictment is the
culmination of a threeyear
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,”
said acting District
Attorney John M. Ryan.
“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.”
According to charges,
in 2015 the NYPD began
to investigate an illegal
operation (a “fence”)
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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.
Charges say that the
Nathoo brothers allegedly
used cash to buy gift cards
that had been purchased
using fraudulent credit
cards and then re-sold those
gift cards to Cardcash.com,
an online gift card exchange
business. However, the
investigation allegedly
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 swipers
or shoppers would go to
department stores, buy
merchandise and return
the items for either a
“cleaned” gift card or
store credit. This made
the scheme harder for law
enforcement to trace.
Photo courtesy of the Queens DA’s office
/Cardcash.com
