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Mahoning police arrest one; looking for suspects in credit card fraud

Mahoning Township Police have arrested one man for credit card fraud and are looking for two others who were involved in the incident.

On Oct. 21 at 8:49 p.m. Mahoning Township Police were dispatched to Walmart for credit card fraud.Three Asian males made multiple gift card purchases utilizing fraudulent credit cards, police said.When confronted by management one of the males fled the store, while two others left in a Chevy Equinox driven by a fourth person.The man who fled was found walking on Fredericks Grove Road.He was identified as Jiang Yuan of Brooklyn, New York.A review of security footage at Walmart showed the males entered the store and purchased gift cards at several registers.Numerous transactions were declined, and several were approved.In one transaction a $400 gift card from the Wilkes-Barre Walmart was used to purchase $400 in gift cards.Police said Yuan made a $400 iTunes gift card purchase, and he attempted a second purchase which was declined.The card used in the approved purchase was fake, and had unauthorized account information written on it.Police said Yuan went to a second register where he attempted another $400 gift card purchase, which was declined.When he was arrested, Yuan had 10 fraudulent credit cards, two $400 gift cards from the Hometown Walmart, and a $400 gift card from the Hazleton Walmart.The gift cards had all been activated on Oct. 21.While Yuan was in custody police received a report from a resident of Scranton, reporting their credit card account was used to make an unauthorized purchase at the store.Yuan was placed in Carbon County Prison, with bail was set at $40,000 cash.Anyone with information about the two other suspects is asked to contact Mahoning Township Police at 570-386-2241.

@$:SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS Jiang Yuan