ID crime ring boss gets 25 years in prison for stealing thousands of personal identities and counterfeiting credit cards to buy high-end goods to be resold on Craigslist and eBay. Christopher Aragon, the ring leader, hired a crew of primarily women to make purchases for him. These women traveled throughout California and to Las Vegas to purchase high-end goods. Christopher Aragon and his co-defendants resold the merchandise on eBay and Craigslist. Clara Aragon hired an employee solely to sell stolen goods on eBay. On May 12, 2007, Aragon and Shitrit entered Bloomingdale's at Fashion Island, Newport Beach, and used fake and fraudulent American Express and Visa cards to make purchases totaling over $13,000. They purchased Coach handbags, men's and women's clothing, and watches. Newport Beach police officers were alerted when the scan of the magnetic encoding on the back of a credit card did not match the imprint of the card. Christopher Aragon and Shitrit were arrested in the parking lot and a search of Christopher Aragon's vehicle led to over 50 forged credit and gift cards, and fraudulent California driver's licenses bearing various names with Christopher Aragon's photo. During the investigation, hundreds of forged credit and gift cards and fraudulent California driver's licenses were discovered at Christopher Aragon's home and high-end goods were found at his and his wife's business office. Similar items were found at other co-defendants' homes when searched. At Shirit's Aliso Viejo apartment, investigators found a forgery lab designed to encode credit cards in the process of being set up, and credit card writers, and thumb drives with thousands of hacked and stolen credit card numbers. (Source patch.com)

Novi, Michigan Eye care store hit for $25,000 in merchandise by burglars. The Town & Country Eye Care store in Novi was burglarized, door pried open and the power was cut. Stolen were 40 pairs of Maui Jim sunglasses, and Gucci frames. Several other burglaries in the area were reported during the same time frame. (Source hometownlife.com)

An organized shoplifting crew made off with high-end handbags worth more than $5,000 on Oct. 21 at Nordstrom in Pleasanton, Calif. Police say a similar crime was reported recently in Los Altos. (Source pleasantonweekly.com)

Yuba City, California suspects nailed at The Home Depot; Theft, Fraudulent identities and Mail theft. The three suspects were arrested for loading up an ice chest with merchandise and purchasing the chest at a Oroville Home Depot. When Police stopped the vehicle, inside was evidence of identity theft, credit card information, stolen personal and business checks and stolen US mail from at least 25 Yuba City Residents. (Source appeal-democrat.com)