May 9, 2007

NEWS: JetBlue Employees Stole Cards

Four employees of JetBlue airlines, as well as an NYC corrections officer, were arrested this week after having been discovered using the stolen credit cards of some of the airline’s customers. Manhattan DA Robert Morganthau told press that at least one victim, a law student who traveled from New York to Boston via JetBlue in June 2006, has come forward with unauthorized charges made on his card after having left it behind at a JetBlue ticketing terminal. The victim claims that he purchased a standby ticket and paid the $25 change fee on his debit card from Alex Yegoryan, a 26 year old customer service associate of the airline, then left it behind at Yegoryan’s counter at JFK International Airport.

Yegoryan, along with two coworkers, Georgia Malamis, 31, and Ricquevil Santana, 22, reportedly used that specific victim’s card for five separate unauthorized charges. Specifically, they bought fuel, food from a local diner, alcohol, pharmacy purchases, and at least one American Express gift card. Further investigation into the incident revealed that this was not the first time that Yegoryan, Malamis, and Santana has engaged in such fraudulent activities: between December 2005 and April 2007, they may have used several other cards left behind inadvertently by JetBlue passengers. There is also reportedly evidence to suggest that they shared the cards with Monique Robles, 25, a JetBlue flight attendant, and (more disturbingly) Jacqueline Miranda, 27, a New York City Department of Corrections Officer. The five co-defendants are said to have made fraudulent transactions at a variety of retailers, including Bloomingdale’s, Target, Victoria’s Secret, Express, H&M, and Champs Sports, along with a plethora of assorted restaurants, liquor stores, grocery stores, and gas stations all over Manhattan and Queens. It is reported that the charges per transaction on the five’s shopping sprees averaged between $300 and $500. All five face charges of fraud and identity theft.


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