The last of three ringleaders pleaded guilty Tuesday to his role in a credit card skimming scheme that ran up a $750,000 tab on cards stolen from diners at high-end Washington-area restaurants.
Joseph Bush III, along with Aaron D. Gilbert and Erick V. Burton, recruited serving staff at the District’s M&S Grill, 701 Restaurant, Clyde’s of Gallery Place and Bowie’s Carrabba’s Italian Restaurant to steal credit card numbers from diners. Gilbert and Burton have both pleaded guilty in recent weeks.
The ring was busted in March after a Secret Service agent spent a year tracking complaints of fraudulent charges back to their source at the restaurants. Managers were able to quickly identify the employees behind the stolen cards: In most cases wait staff had to enter employee identification numbers before running a diner’s credit card.
According to attorneys for the waiters and waitresses, the three paid the servers about $20 per card number. Bush, Gilbert and Burton then went on to spend thousands at stores like Gucci and Barney’s of New York.
The ringleaders admitted to taking the stolen card numbers and creating fake credit cards with their names on them. They would then either use the fake cards to directly purchase items from high-end stores, or buy gift cards to spend at Wal-Mart, Target and CVS Pharmacy, court documents said.
When police searched Bush’s Fort Washington home, they found 55 gift cards issued by Wal-Mart, MasterCard and American Express, search warrants said. The also found four credit card skimming devices stuffed into an Eddie Bauer backpack.
Inside his truck, located outside a Rockville condominium, police found a Nintendo Wii and a piece of paper with Social Security numbers. Inside the Rockville condo were three Louis Vuitton purses, another from Gucci and one more from Prada. In one bedroom, there were 22 pairs of shoes with names like Louis Vuitton and Gucci.
Bush and Burton face up to 32 years in prison and more than $1 million in fines. Gilbert faces up to 10 1/2 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
