Queens Man Pleads Guilty To $179K Credit Card Fraud Scheme: Feds

BAYSIDE, QUEENS -- A 22-year-old Queens man pleaded guilty to his role in a $179,000 credit card fraud scheme that spanned the East Coast, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Xia Bin Xu, of Bayside, was part of a fraud ring that stole credit card information from more than 100 cardholders to create fake credit cards, which they used to buy luxury goods from retail shops up and down the East Coast and sell them on the black market from July 2014 to April 2015, court records show.

The scheme was headed by two Flushing men - ringleader Mei Bao Lu and his second-in-command Yang-Shi Lin - who skimmed credit card information from dozens of cardholders to create fake credit cards, said U.S. District Attorney John Durham.

Lu distributed the fake credit cards to several "buyers" - including Xu - with instructions to purchase gift cards and luxury merchandise. He then sold the goods at a discount to be put on the black market, Durham said.

The group used 120 counterfeit credit cards - issued by 18 unknowing financial institutions - to make around $179,000 fraudulent purchases in Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, court records show.

In addition to being a buyer, Xu recruited other members to buy for the fraud ring, Durham said.

Cops began investigating the scheme in February 2015 when Connecticut police departments began receiving complaints about unauthorized charges to their credit and debit cards, court records show.

The investigation found many of the fraud complaints came from people who'd dined in the same Clinton, Connecticut restaurant earlier that month, authorities said.

Xu was arrested on Sept. 10, 2015 for his role in the credit card fraud scheme and later released on bond. On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty in a Connecticut federal court to one count of access device fraud.

He will be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for the crime on July 24.

Xu was one of several members of Lu's group to be convicted on similar credit-card related charges in Maine, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia state and federal courts.

Lu and Lin also pleaded guilty to similar charges and were sentenced in early February - Lu to a year and a half in prison and Lin to a year and a day.

(Lead photo via Shutterstock)