WOMAN INDICTED FOR FRAUDULENT WAL-MART SHOPPING CARD SCHEME
DENVER – Jerryca P. Chavez, age 26, of Englewood and Sheridan, Colorado, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on January 27, 2010 on charges of wire fraud, use of unauthorized access devices, possession of unauthorized access devices and aggravated identity theft. Chavez was arrested without incident by special agents with the U.S. Secret Service. She appeared in U.S. District Court in Denver on January 28, 2010, where she was advised of the charges pending against her. She was then released on a $10,000 unsecured bond. She is scheduled to be arraigned today, Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Watanabe.
According to the allegations contained in the indictment, between January 2005 and September 2006, Chavez knowingly devised and intended to devise a scheme to defraud and obtain money and property from various Wal-Mart stores and credit card companies by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses.
During the time period in question, Chavez worked at a Greenwood Village business. While working at that business she had access to customers’ credit card information, which she fraudulently obtained. She also obtained others credit card information through other unknown means. As part of the scheme, Chavez obtained numerous Wal-Mart shopping cards. She would then call both in and out of state Wal-Mart stores, providing a compelling story to the Wal-Mart employee to convince the employee to fund a Wal-Mart shopping card over the phone, which is contrary to standard practice.
Chavez allegedly used the credit card numbers during the scheme without cardholders’ authorization to fund Wal-Mart shopping cards by providing the credit card number to a Wal-Mart employee over the phone. The defendant then requested the shopping card be funded using an unauthorized credit card number in varying amounts between $350 and $800. Chavez would then use the Wal-Mart shopping cards funded with the fraudulently obtained credit card numbers in various Wal-Mart stores throughout the Metro Denver to purchase groceries, electronics, household items, and large ticket merchandise. The defendant and an un-named associate kept the smaller purchases and returned larger priced items to Wal-Mart to obtain cash. Investigators believe Chavez fraudulently obtained over $200,000 in Wal-Mart merchandise and cash by implementing this scheme.
“Fraudulent schemes such as this must be aggressively pursued and prosecuted so that the public can be assured that their credit card and personal information remain secure,” said U.S. Attorney David Gaouette.
“The U.S. Secret Service will continue to aggressively investigate these types of financial fraud cases that are brought to our attention,” said Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Dan Donahue.” The type of fraud the defendant was indicted on not only has an adverse affect on business and commerce but can have a significant and devastating impact on the public as well.”
“The fraud that occurred jeopardizes the security of personal information and drives up prices that consumers pay,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge James Davis. “The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and retailers to address this threat.”
If convicted Chavez faces not more than 20 years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine for each of the 22 counts of wire fraud. She also faces not more than 10 years in federal prison for each of the 12 counts of use of unauthorized access device. Lastly, she faces not more than 2 years imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine for each of the two counts of aggravated identity theft.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service (USSS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Chavez is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda McMahan.
The charges in the indictment are allegations, and a defendant has the right to be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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