BIRMINGHAM, AL – A Federal grand jury in Birmingham has returned an indictment charging two Chinese nationals with possessing counterfeit devices, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona.
A one-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges Jiadong Cao, 36, and Xuejun Zheng, 48, with possession of counterfeit and unauthorized access devices.
According to court documents, the defendants engaged in a retail scheme to steal funds from gift cards purchased by consumers at various retail stores. Perpetrators stole un-activated gift cards from stores, carefully opened the gift card packages to conceal damage to the packaging, and altered the cards so the perpetrators could access funds that were later loaded onto the gift cards by consumers at checkout. The perpetrators then put altered gift cards back into the original packaging, returned to the store, and placed the altered gift cards on the shelf for sale to the public. Once the gift cards were purchased and consumers loaded funds, the perpetrators electronically drained the funds from those gift cards for their own use.
The Hoover Police Department issued a BOLO June 20, 2025, regarding two Asian males driving a Lexus SUV who were believed to be involved in switching gift cards at local CVS stores. The next day, the Pelham Police Department conducted a traffic stop on the Lexus SUV and received consent to search the vehicle. During the search, officers found multiple boxes containing more than 5,000 gift cards. Additional investigation revealed that parts of the gift card numbers and/or PIN number on most of these gift cards had been obliterated or altered.
The maximum penalty for this offense is 10 years.
The United States Secret Service investigated the case along with the Hoover Police Department and Pelham Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Ryan S. Rummage is prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
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