Arrest made in W. Whiteland fraud ring

WEST WHITELAND » A New Jersey man has been charged in a wide-ranging credit and debit card fraud scheme here that police say has claimed multiple victims they have yet been unable to identify, while another man involved in the alleged crimes is still being sought.

Sante Adoula Bishop, 20, of Roselle, Union County, N.J. was taken into custody by West Whiteland Detective Scott Pezick May 7 after being identified as one of the men who made card purchases of more than $5,000 that was traced to a township resident’s debit card.

Bishop, who was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge John Bailey of Exton and later released on 10 percent of $25,000 bail, is charged with multiple counts of felony access device fraud, identity theft, and receiving stolen property. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 25.

According to Pezick, he has developed a number of card account numbers in the case but does not know where they originated or to

whom they belonged. He speculated that those involved in such schemes purchase blocks of card numbers that had been stolen in data breaches at banks or other financial institutions, then sold on the “dark web” — that illicit corner of the internet where illegal and stolen items are bought and sold.

“What is important to me is finding more victims,” said Pezick in an email Thursday. “I have many credit card numbers that were used, but I don’t know who the victims are. People can report it to their local police or call me.”

Pezick also suggested that members of the group involved in the card frauds that Bishop is charged with are also involved in “card cracking,” involving the deposit of counterfeit checks in a person’s bank account and then withdrawing the money. “The account holders typically are not victims,” the investigator said. “They give these people their account numbers. The group solicits through social media offering to pay these people for access to their accounts.”

According to the criminal complaint against Bishop, Pezick was contacted in late March by a township woman who had noticed several questionable purchases on her state EPPI card, which is a debit card used almost exclusively for transactions involving child support payments, and not for routine purchases.

The $5,570 in unlawful charges on her card were made at various stores like Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Home Depot in March. The stores were located in Chester County and Montgomery County, but also in Roselle, N.J., East Brunswick, N.J., and Brooklyn, N.Y., according to the complaint.

Pezick said in the complaint that he was able to identify vehicles — a black Mercedes Benz and a white BMW — that were used by those involved in the purchases at the Target stores in Montgomery County through surveillance footage.

He made contact with the person to whom the Mercedes was registered, who told him that he had already reported to state police in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, that someone had used his identity to register a series of cars that he did not own. Pezick said the man said he become suspicious when he began receiving bills in the mail for turnpike toll violations linked to the cars.

The detective was able to trace the BMW to an address on West Girard Avenue in Philadelphia, which he began watching. On April 15, he spotted a Mercedes that fit the depiction of the car seen at the Target stores. With the help of the state police Vehicle Fraud Unit, the two vehicles were impounded and towed. During that operation, a state police trooper spoke with a man later identified as one of those involved in the Target thefts.

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Brooklyn, N.Y., man named Gabriel Morris who Pezick believes is also involved in the scheme.

When police executed a search warrant at the Philadelphia house where the cars had been parked, Pezick was able to recognize one of the men found there as one of the suspects from target, who he later identified as Bishop. He said he was also able to tie him to a theft at a Home Depot in Greensburg, where the Mercedes was registered.

Inside the house, officers found a computer, credit and debit card readers, dozens of new, unused Target gift cards, $10,000 in cash, and a handgun.

Anyone with information about the case is urged contact Pezick at 610-363-0200, ext. 1017.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Defendant Sante Bishop was charged last week in the fraud scheme currently under investigation by West Whiteland police investigators.