BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A federal grand jury has indicted two Chinese nationals, Jiadong Cao, 36, and Xuejun Zheng, 48, on charges of possessing counterfeit and unauthorized access devices, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona.
Court documents reveal that the defendants allegedly engaged in a scheme to steal funds from gift cards purchased by consumers at various retail stores. The perpetrators reportedly stole un-activated gift cards, carefully opened the packaging to avoid detection, and altered the cards to access funds loaded by consumers at checkout. The altered cards were then returned to the shelves for sale. Once purchased, the funds were electronically drained by the perpetrators for personal use.
On June 20, 2025, the Hoover Police Department issued a BOLO for two Asian males driving a Lexus SUV, suspected of switching gift cards at local CVS stores. The following day, Pelham Police conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and, upon searching, discovered multiple boxes containing over 5,000 gift cards. Investigators found that many of these cards had altered or obliterated numbers and PINs…