2013 Legislative Breakfast Book - Queens County District Attorney

Cases of Interest
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH TRAFFICKING
IN UNTAXED CIGARETTES
More Than 20,000 Counterfeit State/City Tax Stamps and Nearly 230,000 Untaxed Cigarettes Among Items Allegedly Seized
Tobacco bootleggers who illegally
bring thousands of untaxed packs of
cigarettes from other locations to New
York for resale cheat the public by failing to
contribute their fair share of the dollars. For
every dollar or two dollars a store owner or
consumer saves by purchasing an untaxed
pack of cigarettes, the honest taxpayer
becomes the victim by being forced to dip
into his or her pocket to pay higher taxes.
As a direct result of cooperation between
the Department of Finance, the District
Attorney and the Tax Department, a Jackson
Heights man has been charged in connection
with a scheme to sell untaxed cigarettes
by using counterfeit tax stamps. As part
of the investigation, authorities allegedly
seized 11,423 packs of untaxed cigarettes,
more than 21,000 counterfeit cigarette tax
stamps and thousands of dollars in cash. It
is alleged that the defendant was seeking to
shortchange New York State and New York
City out of nearly $200,000 in tax revenue.
The arrests are just the latest results
brought about by the District Attorney’s
Crimes Against Revenue Unit which
protectively investigates and prosecutes
individuals and businesses that deliberately
fail to pay tax obligations associated with
legal and illegal activities. To date, more than
8.5 million untaxed cigarettes have been
seized, forfeited, and surrendered.
In January of 2012, a Flushing resident
was charged with second-degree trademark
counterfeiting and other charges following
the seizure of approximately 1,400 cartons
of cigarettes, 14,500 counterfeit Virginia
tax stamps and $32,000 in cash from two
apartments in Flushing.
13 INDIVIDUALS CHARGED IN IDENTITY THEFT
AND COUNTERFEIT CREDIT CARD OPERATION BASED IN QUEENS
Scores of Unsuspecting Consumers, Retailers and Financial Institutions Allegedly Defrauded
According to the charges, the
defendants fraudulently obtained
credit card account numbers through
various means, which were then used
to manufacture forged credit and
identification cards. Once the counterfeit
cards were created, they were ultimately
given to “shoppers” who were sent out on
shopping expeditions all over the New
York area including Long Island, Upstate
and New Jersey, as well as Delaware,
Florida and Pennsylvania to shop using
counterfeit credit cards, stolen account
and personal identification information,
counterfeit currency and counterfeit
Traveler’s Cheques. The defendants
allegedly resold the purchased items
or in some cases – such as when using
Traveler’s Cheques – returned the items
for cash. Among the
retailers allegedly
targeted by the defendants are Best
Buy, Home Depot, Loehmann’s,
Walgreens and Sephora.
Authorities learned of the alleged
ring as part of the investigation of a
massive $13 million credit card and
identity fraud ring with a worldwide
reach – dubbed “Operation Swiper”
– that was dismantled last October
with the arrests and indictments
of 111 defendants. Of those
defendants, 75 have pleaded
guilty to date — including several
of the lead defendants.
2013 Legislative Breakfast
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