A man received a three-year prison sentence for stealing and altering gift cards at Wal-Mart stores in the Pittsburgh area
The Attorney General, Michelle Henry, said Chen didn’t just steal from stores; he also ripped off customers. He’d return altered gift cards to the shelves, and when people bought them, they’d find out the balances were empty. That’s just low!
Surveillance footage showed him lifting a bunch of Apple gift cards from at least six stores. He’d change the cards to funnel the money to himself before putting them back for unsuspecting shoppers. It’s believed he and his crew made hundreds of thousands of dollars from this scam.
In May 2024, he was caught trying to sneak out of a Wal-Mart with 126 gift cards stuffed in his jacket. When the cops searched his car, they found nearly 4,000 more gift cards, worth close to a million bucks, along with cash and tools he used for the scam.
The Frazer Township Police and Homeland Security helped out with the investigation. It’s a big reminder of how serious retail theft can be and how it affects everyone involved.
