A California man was arrested after allegedly using stolen or compromised U.S. credit card accounts in dozens of tap-to-pay transactions at southeast Michigan retailers.
Northville Township Police on Monday announced the arrest of Jian-Wei “Juan” Li, 40, of California, following an investigation involving the Michigan Attorney General/Michigan State Police Focused Organized Crime (FORCE) Team.
The investigation began on Nov. 11 after it was reported that an unidentified male suspect, believed to be Li, had been involved in more than 25 fraudulent tap-to-pay incidents at Meijer stores dating to May. An investigation determined that Li was participating in a tap-to-pay scheme involving organized groups, who load stolen or compromised U.S. credit card accounts into mobile payment platforms such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay.
Li is alleged to have used these to purchase goods, including Apple devices, gift cards and other easily resold merchandise. Police believe the merchandise was shipped out of state or overseas.
“Investigators conducted an intensive physical surveillance of Li, who was staying at a local hotel and driving a 2019 Mercedes SUV,” Northville Police said in a release. “Over the course of three days, investigators documented Li conducting more than 60 attempted transactions using more than 40 different card numbers across Meijer, Best Buy, Speedway, Lululemon, Macy’s, Home Depot and Trader Joe’s locations.”
Li was taken into custody, leaving a Best Buy store without incident on Nov. 18. Following the arrest, investigators executed multiple search warrants. A search of Li’s hotel room recovered large quantities of gift cards, receipts for iPad purchases and documentation of declined transactions.
Li was charged on Nov. 20 through the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office with three 5-year felonies for identity theft. He was later arraigned and received a $100,000 cash bond.
Contact Keith Matheny: kmatheny@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Police: Tap-to-pay scammer did 60 buys across metro Detroit retailers
Reporting by Keith Matheny, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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