Tag Archives: Forgery

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Benton Police Bust Crime Ring Based Out of Hotel”

“…Police said detectives found four stolen vehicles, a large amount of stolen property and numerous articles of evidence related to identity theft and forgeries in the suspects’ possession.Image Methamphetamine, prescription medication and ecstasy were also found on the scene…The suspects purportedly used multiple rooms at the hotel to avoid detection and used stolen license plates and vehicles to avoid being caught, the release states…”

The arrest of a burglary suspect on Monday led Benton police to discover and bust a Saline County criminal enterprise ring, officials said.

Officers responded to a burglary in progress around 12:45 p.m. Monday on River Heights Drive. While police were unable to locate the suspect — identified as Jason Hamilton, 33, of Benton — at the time of the burglary, Hamilton was later located in Pulaski County and taken into custody, the Benton Police Department said in a news release.

For more: http://bit.ly/1gE0r9o

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Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Michigan Restaurant Waitress Convicted Of “Credit Card Forgery” After Padding Tips On Transactions; Prior Record For Theft And Larceny

“…(the defendant) was hired as a waitress at Buffalo Wild Wings…on June 19, 2013, she stole from customers by padding the tip amount on Restaurant Employee Theftelectronic receipts…For example, when someone used a credit card to pay for their bill, (she) would change the tip amount when she entered the transaction into the computer…The restaurant received a complaint from a customer, which led to an internal investigation by the business. That initial complaint led to others…”

Kortney Donesia Lewis, a 25-year-old Fruitport Township woman, garnered three prison terms this week for padding her waitress tips at a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant — crimes committed while she was a fugitive from sentencing for a theft at a Red Roof Inn job.

Lewis also has a previous conviction record of stealing credit cards and larceny in a building in 2009.

Muskegon County 14th Circuit Judge Timothy G. Hicks on Monday, Nov. 4, sentenced Lewis to prison for three terms of between 15 months and 15 years for credit-card forgery as a fourth-time habitual offender. She pleaded guilty as charged Sept. 24.

For more: http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2013/11/ex-waitress_gets_prison_for_st.html

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Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Labor Issues, Liability, Risk Management, Theft

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Washington Hotel Room Used By “Major Identity Theft And Forgery Ring”; Police Seize Laptops, Lamination Machine And Bags Of Stolen Mail

“These labs tend to be mobile…they go from hotel to hotel…the room contained a computer, two laptops, laminating paper, card stock, check stock and a hot laminator machine along with identification, checks and identity theftbags of mail that had been stolen. Also seized were more than 100 licenses and other IDs, roughly 20 hard drives and numerous other media storage devices, such as thumb drives and memory chips.

Police and U.S. Secret Service agents believe they have taken down a major identity theft and forgery ring involving at least a dozen suspects and more than 100 victims. The number of victims could grow as experts analyze computer hard drives and video surveillance footage from businesses where the suspects tried to get money. As of Friday evening, authorities estimated more than $45,000 had been stolen, but said that amount is likely to grow.

Evidence is being examined at the Secret Service’s Electronic Crimes Task Force lab in Seattle. Many of the victims — both individuals and businesses — are from Everett, but the center for the operation was traced to a hotel room in Shoreline.

That’s where police and the Secret Service found what amounted to a ID-theft factory Thursday.

For more:  http://heraldnet.com/article/20130105/NEWS01/701059947

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Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Technology, Theft