Brit Trio Accused In Phony Credit Card Scam On Miami Beach
MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) - A trio of British nationals has been arrested on Miami Beach in a phony credit card scam.
Police say their scheme unfolded when 25-year old Tracy Bush tried to buy several sets of sunglasses from Eye Q Optical on Ocean Drive with a credit card. When the card came back as a fraud, the owner of the store went to confront her, Bush fled. The owner then called police. When officer Charles King arrived at the store, the owner pointed out to him a red Mustang convertible which Bush and two other men had arrived in.
As King checked out the car he was approached by Shahabi Hooshang, 27 and Manuel Princewill, 28. During his investigation of the car, King found a number of credit cards with PIN numbers hand written on the back of them. Hooshang and Princewill were arrested and taken to police headquarters where they allegedly confessed. They reportedly told a detective that they were paid to fly to Miami Beach by an undisclosed person to cash out skimmed ATM cards; in return they would get a percentage.
They reportedly told police Bush could be found at the Fontainbleu Hotel – and she was.
According to police, Bush had used a phony credit card with the name "T. Bush" to pay for the room the three of them were staying in. Two other cards with the same name were also found. In all, a total of 65 counterfeit credit cards were found on the trio, in the car and in the hotel room.
Each has been charged with passing fraudulent credit cards.
