Queens Dumbest Criminals Boast of Credit Card Scheme on Twitter, Facebook

By Alicia Cruz
Yahoo! News Network

Talk about dumb criminals.

Despite repeated campaigns aimed at warning people to use plain common sense and due diligence when posting to their Facebook and Twitter pages, there are still a number of dim wits who believe their illicit activities will remain intangible...although they've boasted about them to thousands of people via social network sites.

Case in point: A 16-month investigation culminated in arrest warrants for 111 people in Queens in what the NYPD is calling the largest identity-theft bust in U.S. history.

With the help of "Operation Swiper", the Queens District Attorney's Office and the NYPD busted up a network of alleged thieves that consisted of bank tellers, restaurant employees and other customer service employees who stole trusting customers' identification to create phony credit cards, NYMAG.com reported.

The theft ring was so extensive, investigators required Arabic, Russian, Bengali, Farsi, Mandarin and Spanish interpreters for the 5 independent crews who have ties to Africa, Asia, Russia, Europe and the Middle East. Police say the bandit’s credit card scheme looted innocent Americans of at least $13 million.

Detectives say twenty-five of the 111 suspects remain at large. However, cops managed to snag Amar Singh, purported ringleader of one of the theft crews, along with his girlfriend Sanjay “Rocky” Deowsarrann, of Long Island and 86 other defendants, said Time.com. Four others may have fled to Russia, said police.

Members of each crew used the bogus plastic to purchase items with easy resale value from high-end retailers around the country such as Macy’s, Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s where they bought Louis Vuitton and Gucci handbags, Christian Dior beauty products, iPads, iPhones and Rolexes.

At least one of the bandits, Jonathan Ortiz, a member of the Imran Khan Crew used the ill-gotten gains to finance a lavish vacation at private villas of El Conquistador Resort in Puerto Rico...then bragged about it on Facebook.

A New York Post article said the NYPD slapped Ortiz' mother, Maria Ortiz, with hindering prosecution charge after she allegedly logged onto her son's Facebook account in an attempt to create an alibi for him.