Police make 2 fraud arrests

GLENDALE — Financial crime detectives are investigating a wide-ranging fraud scheme that they were tipped off to last month by a clerk at a Glendale gas station.

Police arrested Mission Hills resident Nicholas Perez, 19, and 22-year-old Ezedin Said, from Canada, on Oct. 18 in connection to an international credit card theft ring in which they stole credit card and gift card numbers to re-encode for fraudulent use, Glendale Police Officer John Balian said.

“Apparently, Said has been doing this for a while, and he’s a pro at it,” Balian said. “So he recruits these young guys.”

On Sept. 17, Said allegedly pulled up to a gas station near Central Avenue and Burchett Street in Glendale, sending Perez in to purchase merchandise with a counterfeit credit card, Glendale Det. Brian Cohen said.

“The clerk at the gas station was very observant and looked at the credit card numbers, and the numbers that came up on the receipt were different,” Cohen said.

Perez fled when the clerk called police, leaving his identification card behind, Cohen said.

After further investigation, police obtained a warrant and arrested Perez at his home in Mission Hills, where they also discovered a credit card “plant,” outfitted with card skimmers and a computer that enables credit card encoding, Cohen said.

Said was arrested later that day.

“That’s the interesting thing about this guy, Said, is that he seems to be pretty smart — to where he tries not to have anything himself; he puts everything at everybody else’s house,” Cohen said. “All the equipment, according to Perez, was Said’s, but he never has anything with him.”

Though Perez has been somewhat cooperative with police during the investigation, Said is not cooperative, Cohen said.

Though police are still early in the investigation, they suspect the operation involved more accomplices, perhaps also from Said’s native Canada, where he was apparently also obtaining stolen credit card numbers, Cohen said.

“We don’t know the total figure, but there’s thousands and thousands of dollars that’s probably been lost because of this,” he said.

As the holiday season approaches, police are reminding shoppers to watch for possible identity thefts.

“There is a lot of identity theft out there, and people should use certain safeguards, such as shredding paper or their bills, et cetera,” Cohen said.

“Just be aware of when they’re using their credit cards and their ATM cards, and go to businesses that are reputable.”

Said is being held at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles on $20,000 bail, with his next appearance in Burbank Municipal Court scheduled for Tuesday.

Perez was released on bond and is also scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.

Police are asking anyone with information about this incident or other identity theft to call the Financial Crimes Division at (818) 548-3101 or the Crime Stoppers line at (818) 507-STOP (7867). Callers to Crime Stoppers may remain anonymous.