EXTRA CREDIT
EDDYSTONE MAN BUSTED IN HUGE CREDIT CARD SCAM
EDDYSTONE » A Sharon Hill man with a previous conviction for retail theft is back in trouble again for an alleged similar offense and this time, according to police, 19 fraudulent credit cards were recovered as part of the investigation.
Arrested June 26, Sankara Boureima, 42, of High Street, remains incarcerated at the county prison in lieu of posting bail, which was set at 10 percent of $100,000, according to online court records.
According to the probable cause affidavit, it was shortly before 2 p.m. on June 26 when borough police received a call from Raymond Trent, a loss prevention officer at the Walmart in the 1500 block of Chester Pike. Trent said a man was using multiple credit cards to buy gift cards in the selfcheckout line – with a different credit card being scanned to purchase a gift card. Suspecting the man was using fraudulent cards to make the purchases, Trent requested police assistance.
When police arrived, they were informed the man who purchased the gift cards had left the store, fleeing on foot when he apparently became aware that he was being watched by loss-prevention officers.
Trent told police the individuals left behind a $100 gift card he had purchased, along with three credit cards in the name of “Leonard Diaw,” and a South Carolina driver’s license in the same name. The individual also left behind $45.94 worth of soda and granola bars, purchases made with multiple different credit cards.
“Police observed that the South Caroline driver’s license in the name of ‘Leonard Diaw’ was obviously fraudulent and copied,” states the affidavit, written by borough Officer Aaron Salisbury. The document noted the magnetic strips on credit cards recovered from the store did not match up with the numbers and expirations dates.
Police confiscated the cards and the driver’s license as evidence. They then began a search of the area for the individual, described as a black man with short hair, a goatee and wearing a white T-shirt. The search came up empty.
The man, police had been told, fled the store with a $100 Walmart gift card.
As part of the investigation, police reviewed video surveillance and obtained still frame shots of different attempts by the suspect to make the purchase using credit cards. Also captured on surveillance was an image of the vehicle the suspect was driving when he arrived at the store. That vehicle, a black Volkswagen sedan, was found in the parking lot of the Walmart.
Shortly before 7 p.m., Trent again contacted borough police. He reported that the individual had returned to his vehicle and was leaving the store parking lot. The vehicle was traveling on Chester Pike toward Ridley Park, Trent said.
When Salisbury checked the area of Chester Pike, he saw a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle approaching Sellers Avenue. Salisbury initiated a traffic stop, at which time he made contact with the defendant.
Salisbury conducted a records check and discovered that Boureima’s driver’s license had been suspended. Trent was called to the scene of the stop and positively identified him as the man he saw making the alleged fraudulent purchases at the Walmart store.
Boureima was taken into custody and transported to Ridley Township police headquarters for processing and housing prior to his preliminary arraignment. At the time of his arrest, he was in possession of five fraudulent credit cards, according to police Lt. Joseph Pretti.
His vehicle was subsequently towed and impounded.
According to Pretti, an additional 14 fraudulent credit cards were found in the vehicle, along with the multiple gift cards he purchased from other unknown stores.
Boureima was charged with access device, theft by deception, retail theft, receiving stolen property and driving with a suspended license. A preliminary hearing is listed for July 10 before Magisterial District Judge Philip S. Turner.
“A criminal history check of Sankara Boureima found a prior conviction for retail theft,” the affidavit states. Pretti said that case occurred in Upper Providence, Montgomery County.