The three men are charged with buying merchandise with a fraudulent credit card.
Officer T.L. Mason responded to the store where he learned the men, all of Nigerian descent, came into Walmart to buy clothing using preloaded gift cards. They kept the clothing and then came back into the store, trying to get two more gift cards loaded with $500 by paying with preloaded Visa and Mastercard gift cards.
When the cashier swiped one of the cards it came up as an American Express, which alerted the store there was something wrong with the card.
Mason found the men by a 2010 Ford Focus in the Walmart parking lot. He found 28 various git cards inside the vehicle along with what was later to be determined three fake Texas ID's.
Baggett said the police department has determined that 24 out of the 28 gift cards were fraudulent and contained financial information belonging to other people. That part is still under investigation and other charges are expected.
The men are suspected of allegedly going up and down the Eastern Seaboard making fraudulent transactions, Baggett said.
Police charged the following:
Sixtus Udeke, 31, with two counts obtaining property by false pretense, one count felony conspiracy and three counts misdemeanor possession of fake ID cards. He was jailed on $18,000 bond and has an October 19 court date.
Okoduwa, left, and Njoku
Comaka Okoduwa, 29, and Pritchard Njoku, 22, who were both charged with two counts of obtaining property by false pretense and one count conspiracy. They were given $17,000 bonds and the same court date as Udeke.
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