Feds: Thieves stole wallets from shoppers

Federal authorities have arrested two men from Peru accused of distracting and stealing wallets from unwitting customers at Trader Joe’s and other retailers in Connecticut, as well as around the country.

The men, Angel Giancarlo Bellido Cosio, 34, and Eugenio Bances Chaponen, 60, were indicted on charges of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, the U.S. Attorney’s

Office for the District of Connecticut said. They were arrested March 13 and have been detained, the office said.

The two men face up to 10 years in prison on the fraud charge and up to two years on the identity theft charge, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

An affidavit from the criminal complaint against the two men claims they and others used a fraudulent passport to rent cars to travel around the U.S., including Connecticut. They then engaged in “ongoing distraction thefts to steal wallets from unwary victims at Trader Joe’s grocery stores and other retail stores,” an FBI agent wrote in the affidavit.

The stolen credit cards then were used to purchase electronic devices and other goods, some of which were shipped to an address in Paterson, N.J., the affidavit said.

Bellido Cosio, also known as “Jesus Requejo,” last lived in Paterson, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Bances Chaponen last lived in Queens, N.Y.

During one such theft in Connecticut on Feb. 10, a victim reported having their credit and debit cards stolen at the Trader Joe’s in Orange, according to the affidavit.

The victim’s credit card then was used to buy an Apple MacBook, an iPad and other goods at the Costco in Milford, according to the affidavit. The thieves also used the debit card to buy an iPad, along with eyedrops, the affidavit said. The debit card also was used to a buy an Apple Watch from the BJ’s Wholesale Club in Stratford.

Authorities tied Bellido Cosio and Bances Chaponen to the thefts through surveillance footage and watching a rental car that was in the area of the Trader Joe’s.

The pair were arrested after they returned to Orange on March 13, according to the affidavit.

A customer at a TJ Maxx store there told authorities she had been approached by a man holding two swimsuits who needed assistance, according to the court filing. He moved on after she told him both cost $25, the affidavit said.

When the woman reached into her pocketbook for her glasses, she realized her wallet was missing, the affidavit said.

The two were observed by agents going into a discount flooring center and a Costco, before both were later apprehended, the affidavit said.