A federal grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, has indicted four Chinese nationals on charges of possessing more than fifteen counterfeit and unauthorized access devices. The indictments were returned on March 19, 2025, and are related to gift card tampering schemes.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Rana Saoud of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Nashville, Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Stansbury of the FBI Louisville Field Office, and Chief Barry S. Wilkerson of the St. Matthews Police Department.
According to the first indictment, Zhiqiang Huang and Chaoming Lin were arrested on October 19, 2024. On that day, Kroger security personnel observed Lin placing gift cards on a rack at a Kroger store in Louisville. After being stopped by St. Matthews police, Huang and Lin were found with approximately 5,000 gift cards; an analysis indicated that about 2,000 were likely altered.
The second indictment involves Huixing Yu and Tianlong Chen, who were also arrested on October 19, 2024. Similar to the first case, Kroger security personnel observed Chen placing gift cards on a rack at another Kroger store in Louisville. Yu and Chen were later found with approximately 650 gift cards; around 250 were suspected to be altered.
Gift card tampering is described as a form of organized retail crime where stolen gift cards are tampered with to extract sensitive information before being placed back into commerce for unsuspecting consumers to purchase.
If convicted, each defendant could face up to ten years in prison. Sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge based on guidelines and statutory factors since there is no parole in the federal system.
The investigation is being conducted by HSI, FBI, and St. Matthews Police Department with Assistant U.S. Attorney David Weiser prosecuting the case.
These cases are part of Operation Take Back America aimed at combating illegal immigration and transnational criminal organizations while protecting communities from violent crime perpetrators.
An indictment remains an allegation until defendants are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.