$10,000 in Store Goods Seized From House

Glendale police seized at least $10,000 worth of department store merchandise from a Porter Ranch house Tuesday night during an investigation of a theft ring that apparently used counterfeit gift certificates and sales receipts.

Four occupants of the house had been arrested Sunday when they tried to use $500 worth of counterfeit Broadway certificates at the Glendale Galleria. A fifth person was arrested Monday when he tried to bail out his companions with $20,000 in cash, Sgt. James Fitzgerald said.

After the arrests, Glendale officers obtained a search warrant for the house. They found electronic equipment, kitchen appliances, clothing and other goods in their original packages, Fitzgerald said.

Investigators also found a copying machine and evidence that it was used to create counterfeit gift certificates and receipts, he said. Police believe the suspects were obtaining goods with the gift certificates, then returning them for cash refunds, using the false sales receipts, Fitzgerald said.

Broadway security officers, who had been alerted to a gift certificate scheme, called Glendale police when the five suspects attempted to use them at the Glendale store.

One of the shoppers fled, but police arrested Howard Kao, 19; Yu-Hsen Kao, 28; Ming Chan Lee, 51; and Howard Ye-Leng Kao, 35.

Officers became suspicious when Chun Hsiung Kao, 43, came to the police station Monday with bail money and no identification, Fitzgerald said. He was arrested after officers identified him as the shopper who had escaped.

The five were being held Wednesday at Glendale City Jail on suspicion of forgery and burglary, with bail set at $25,000 each. Police did not release the address of the house.