LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted three people on charges of importing and making counterfeit credit and debit cards after investigators seized more than 90,000 bogus cards.
Tuesday's indictment accused them of obtaining blank credit cards from China that bore the logos of giant financial institutions and activating the counterfeit cards using existing credit card numbers.
Earlier this month, federal agents recovered more than 80,000 phony cards and several credit card skimmers at a storage unit in the San Gabriel Valley. Earlier, investigators intercepted packages from China containing 12,000 counterfeit cards.
Jose Rolando Renderos, his 18-year-old son Jose Ulloa and Milagro del Carmen Alvarez Hernandez faced arraignment on Feb. 25.
Authorities say Alvarez used a fake card in December at a children's boutique in Los Angeles, spending more than $1,600.
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