7 Held in Breakup of Credit Card Fraud Ring

Detectives have broken up a fraud ring that produced counterfeit credit cards and made thousands of illegal purchases with the phony plastic, costing several banks and credit card companies more than $12 million, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials announced Thursday.

During an eight-month investigation, detectives from the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station served seven search warrants at residences in North Hollywood, Reseda, Hollywood and Westchester. Authorities said they recovered more than 1,000 pieces of evidence, including computer equipment and computer programs used to manufacture credit cards, as well as counterfeit credit cards and counterfeit identification cards.

Detectives also found more than 14,000 account numbers from valid credit cards, Det. Dave Lingscheit said.

Some of the cards were very poorly made, but others were so realistic even trained experts had difficulty spotting them, Lingscheit said.

Seven have been arrested on charges including suspicion of possessing credit card manufacturing equipment with the intention to defraud, possessing counterfeit credit cards, possessing account numbers, false identification and perjury, authorities said.

Arrested were Terak Mo Trad, 36, of North Hollywood; Michael Gebrehiwet, 33, of Westchester; Hiwot Mekete, 18, of Westchester; Jamil Nseir, 34, of North Hollywood; Gaby Haroun, 38, of North Hollywood; Marvin Marino, 20, of Reseda and a 36-year-old man whose identity was not released.

The victims include Bank of America, American Express, Discover and AT&T; Universal Card Services, Lingscheit said. Fleet Bank of Scranton, Pa., alone lost about $8 million, authorities said.

“These defendants have no way of paying back $8 million,” Lingscheit said.

Also involved in the alleged fraud ring were about a dozen “runners,” those who used the cards to purchase clothing, jewelry and computer equipment at stores nationwide. Much of the merchandise was then sold overseas, authorities said.