After a two-month investigation into an organized fraud operation, the Peoria Police Department has announced the arrest of six individuals connected to the operation.
On Oct. 22, the department's special investigations unit completed their investigation into the organized fraud, as an approximate $1.4 million in fraudulently purchased merchandise had been reported, according to Peoria police spokesperson William Kennedy.
The investigation began after a Walmart delivery driver reported dropping off numerous packages that were under different names to a Peoria residence, Kennedy stated.
Using stolen credit card information from Walmart customer accounts to purchase merchandise through Walmart.com, investigators found that these packages would arrive
at the Peoria home and then be shipped to Vietnam, according to Kennedy.
Investigators coordinated simultaneous search warrants with the help of Peoria, Mesa, Avondale and Goodyear SWAT teams. Walmart Loss Prevention and Homeland Security were also credited with aiding in the investigation, Kennedy stated.
After executing the search warrant, investigators recovered approximately $25,000 in merchandise and seized $35,000 in cash and $45,000 in gold bars, Kennedy said.
Ten individuals were detained as four were eventually released following interviews, and the following six were booked into the Maricopa County jail: Thien Tran, 42, Uy Vu Phan, 55, Minh Ngọc Nguyen, 57, Hie Xuan Le, 24, Hoài Nguyen Nguyen, 30, and Hailey Hang Nguyen,26, according to Kennedy.
All six were held on $500,000 cash only bonds each, according to Kennedy.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Peoria police inquiry leads to arrest of 6 in Walmart.com fraud scheme
