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Inmate Uses Fake Credit Cards to Buy $1 Million in Apple Goods

by Caleb Johnson on February 4, 2011 at 08:30 AM

ipadA 28-year-old Riker's Island inmate, who directed a credit card counterfeiting operation from behind bars, now faces grand larceny and conspiracy charges after his gang used the cards to purchase Apple products totaling more than $1 million.

According to the New York Daily News, Shaheed "Sha" Bilal communicated with his gang via cell phone, and through messages given to his girlfriend/deputy, Ophelia "Philly" Alleyne, and his three younger brothers, Ali, Isaac and Rahim. The brothers programmed magnetic strips with stolen banking information purchased from overseas, and attached them to counterfeited cards, which they gave to shoppers who'd been recruited as part of the scam. Between June 2008 and December 2010, the gang used counterfeit cards to purchase iPads, MacBooks and other pricey swag across 13 states and the District of Columbia, before turning around and selling the stolen goods for cash.


The elder Bilal, his girlfriend and the rest of the crew are likely staring down some lengthy prison sentences. Worst of all for them, there's no way they're going to be allowed to have a cell phone, iPad or laptop while serving time in prison. That bridge has been burned, and, even if a warden was foolish enough to allow those privileges, the Bilal gang sold all their gadgets from the trunk of a car anyway.

Tags: Apple, counterfeit, CreditCardFraud, crime, fake+credit+cards, fakecreditcards, security, ShaheedBilal, top

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