OCEAN CITY — Two New York residents were arrested on theft charges last week after allegedly carrying out a gift card scheme at several resort area businesses totaling thousands of dollars in August.
Sean Luke
On Aug. 28, the Ocean City Police Department’s Investigation Division Major Crimes Unit began investigating a series of suspicious purchases that had been made at numerous resort businesses. During the investigation, it was determined a female suspect and a male suspect were purchasing large quantities of gift cards using various types of other Visa gift cards containing stolen credit card information.
Several of the purchases were contested by the credit card companies resulting in the businesses suffering a loss as a result of the thefts. A total of six businesses in Ocean City suffered a combined loss of rougly $5,500 in gift card sales between August 14 and August 20. The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office is also investigating additional businesses that were victimized outside Ocean City limits.
Aaliyah Johnson
Last Friday, the suspects, identified as Sean Luke, 23, of Rosedale, N.Y., and Aaliyah Johnson, 20, of Queens, N.Y. were located and arrested around 10:30 a.m. Luke and Johnson have been charged with theft less than $10,000, three counts of theft less than $1,000 and theft scheme less than $10,000. Both were seen by a District Court Commissioner and both were transferred to the Worcester County Jail on $5,000 bonds.
Any businesses that believe they may have been victims of the scam are urged to contact OCPD Detective David Whitmer at 410-520-5390 or [email protected].