Skip to main content
Press Release

Chinese National Pleads Guilty To Access Device Fraud And Aggravated Identity Theft

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Illinois

Shu K. Chen, 38, from the People’s Republic of China, entered pleas of guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft, Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today. Chen faces up to thirty years in prison for the conspiracy and a consecutive two year sentence for the Aggravated Identity Theft charge, plus a $250,000 fine and up to three years supervised release and mandatory restitution.

Chen was originally arrested by the Collinsville Police Department on December 12, 2014, at the Walmart store in Collinsville, Illinois, for using counterfeit credit cards to fraudulently purchase gift cards. Chen, with the assistance of another individual, had used counterfeit credit cards to make purchases at retail locations in other jurisdictions. The credit cards were encoded on the magnetic strip with legitimate credit card account numbers of area residents who were victimized. Chen provided a false New Jersey driver’s license at the time of the arrest in the name of Chang Zhang, which was the name embossed on the front of the counterfeit credit cards.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service, the Internal Revenue Service/Criminal Investigation and the Collinsville Police Department, with the assistance of several other local police departments and the Madison County State’s Attorneys Office.

The prosecution of the case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman R. Smith.

Updated June 12, 2015