DETROIT – Eight members of the Free Band Gang have been charged in connection with an organized fraud ring based in Detroit.
Toriano Adams, 32, of Eastpointe; Anthony Adans, 32, of Troy; Devin Simmons, 32, of Sterling Heights; Aatif Brown, 25, of Detroit; OD Williams, 27, of Detroit; Denico Adams, 26, of Detroit; Rodney Gist, 27, of Detroit; and Tayan Jackson, 32, of Brooklyn, New York, were charged in the case.
According to the indictment, the defendants obtained stolen credit card accounts in bulk through various sources, including sites on the internet. The stolen bank accounts were pressed on the front of counterfeit cards to create cloned credit cards, officials said.
Free Band Gang members are accused of traveling to Walmart stores throughout the country, where they purchased $500 gift cards using the cloned credit cards without the knowledge of the true account holders.
The defendants often purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of gift cards in a single day, officials said.
“In the span of nine hours, two of these defendants allegedly traveled to ten Walmart stores in and around Bentonville, Arkansas, used three counterfeit credit cards, and made over $100,000.00 in fraudulent purchases,” U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider said. “This was not uncommon for this group. Over three years, the defendants allegedly stole millions of dollars in an organized, calculated scheme. Because Michigan is a national leader in identity theft, we are literally working day and night to break up these fraud rings and put the perpetrators where they belong: in federal prison.”
They returned to Michigan to sell the gift cards and launder the proceeds, according to court documents.
The scheme lasted for nearly three years and resulted in millions of dollars in losses, officials said.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and aggravated identity theft, Schneider said.