By By Ben Alexander/The Meridian Star
Dec. 16, 2000
Four people arrested last week for trying to make purchases with fraudulent credit cards may be only part of a ring still operating in Meridian, according to police officials.
Investigators believe the ring's home base may be in South Florida, and that teams of "buyers" supplied with fraudulent cards are dispatched from there to make illegal purchases.
The four suspects charged about $13,000 in merchandise in less than an hour at the mall before a store manager called the credit card company and discovered the card they were using was a fake.
Authorities believe three are from Cuba, but one may possibly be from Columbia.
Secret Service agents were in town briefly to look into the case because they have an interest in South Florida groups, but they have withdrawn from the investigation.
Bail for the group totals $750,000 and they remain in the Lauderdale County Detention Facility. Their case is expected to be presented to a grand jury in March.
Ben Alexander is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at balexander@themeridianstar.com.