Cheektowaga man admits credit card theft scheme
A 21-year-old Cheektowaga man has admitted a scheme in which he had employees at local businesses use a hand-held device to skim the credit card numbers of customers that he would then use to buy merchandise valued at up to $70,000.
Sabur Ali Brown, who jumped out of a second-story window at his Windward Court apartment when he was arrested in March, pleaded guilty to two felony charges Wednesday before U. S. District Judge William M. Skretny.
Brown used employees at the Anchor Bar, J. C. Penney, Taco Bell and International House of Pancakes to skim customers’ credit cards using hand-held electronic devices, said Assistant U. S. Attorneys Richard P. Maigret and Paul J. Campana.
The two prosecutors said Brown then downloaded the information into his computer and made phony gift cards to buy various goods. They said he used credit records of about 200 people.
Brown was originally charged with weapon and drug charges after his arrest, while Secret Service agents investigated the credit card frauds.
Brown faces a maximum 15 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 22.
