14 DAY TRIAL // The arrest of two men in Upper Darby, PA, for possession and use of stolen credit cards, led authorities to a much larger counterfeiting operation based in Philadelphia.
Sheik Fofanah, 29, of Yeadon, PA, and Conde Mamady, 28, of Bladensburgh, MD, were arrested by Upper Darby police officers who responded to a report of stolen credit card use at a local Lukoil gas station.
The two men were in the possession of two stolen cars, one of which contained a whole stack of fake credit cards in the console. More counterfeit credit cards were found inside the men's wallets.
Fofanah and Mamady were arrested on charges of credit card fraud and identity theft and were taken to the police station.
"We called the Secret Service due to the number of credit cards," Upper Darby police Superintendent Michael Chitwood told Delco News Network.
"Apparently the Greater Philadelphia area has been hit hard with stolen credit cards recently and the Secret Service came right to our station," he explained.
When the defendants were interrogated they revealed the location of a safe house in Philadelphia used by an identity theft ring specialized in credit card fraud.
When authorities executed a search warrant at the address on Thanksgiving morning, they found a lot of equipment and materials used in credit card and money counterfeiting.
Chitwood said that giving the nature of the fraud, which affected people nationwide, the Secret Service has taken over the investigation.
He did however note that the gang was cloning credit cards from stolen information and used them primarily to buy gift cards.
Apparently money were also counterfeited at the location through a technique known as bleaching, which involves washing the ink off lower denomination bills and reprinting them in higher values.
The bail for Fofanah and Mamady was set at $1 million and they are scheduled to appear before a judge on December 3. The US Secret Service might add additional charges depending on the result of their investigation.