SACRAMENTO, Calif.—A man convicted in a nationwide Target gift card scam estimated to have led to losses of several million dollars has been sentenced to one year in prison.
Ningning Sun was convicted of being a “runner” for a supposed organized crime network that was running scams on Target gift cards from the West Coast, Midwest and deep South, according to prosecutors.
“The cards were in bags labeled ‘done’ and ‘not complete’,” the district attorney explained.
Added Fox 40 News, “The cards in the ‘done’ bag contained gift cards that had been tampered with and were ready to be reshelved so money could be siphoned off them once a customer bought them. The cards in the ‘not complete’ bags contained cards that were not yet tampered with.”
Caught in Store
Sun was arrested in December during a blitz operation by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office after he was seen in a Target reshelving gift cards while taking new gift cards.
After attempting to flee from law enforcement, Sun was arrested and some 200 gift cards “fell from his clothing”, according to the district attorney’s office, Fox 40 noted. Police said more than 5,000 cards were also found in his vehicle, as were pay/owe sheets with more than 140 names, numbers, payment periods and time limits for pay back.