5 indicted in fake credit card scheme

Five people have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Grand Rapids, accused of making fake credit cards and using them to buy tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise from stores in three states, including retailers in the Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek areas.

The five, from the Chicago area, are accused of using the fake cards to buy from Meijer and Target stores in Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, Caledonia, Cascade Township, Grand Rapids, Grandville, Jenison, Kalamazoo, Plainfield Township, Plainwell, Portage, Three Rivers and Walker. They are also charged with fraudulently buying from stores in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin.

The indictment lists roughly one hundred different transactions over the course of just four days in April 2007, including the purchase of iPods and gaming systems like the PS3 and Wii.

Gift cards were also a popular purchase, according to the indictment. It states they would often turn around and use those gift cards the same day to purchase more merchandise.

The indictment charges one of the five, Seth D. Ryan, with using eBay to sell the merchandise purchased from the stores.

It says Ryan purchased a "magnetic card writer encoder" online in March 2007 and used it to put the stolen credit card numbers onto another plastic card, creating what appeared to be a valid card.

The five often worked in pairs or groups of three at each store targeted, according to the indictment. The others charged are: Michael S. Boerger, Grzegorz Stachurski, Kimberly Stachurski and Arthur C. Smith IV.