New York waiters steal info for ID-theft ring

Some 28 people have been indicted on various charges, including racketeering, conspiracy and grand larceny.

The group had seven waiters use so-called “skimming” devices to copy at least 50 restaurant-goers' American Express credit card data surreptitiously while running their tabs at such powerhouse eateries as Smith & Wollensky and Wolfgang's Steakhouse, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said.

The ring made up counterfeit credit cards with the stolen information, then had associates fan out to buy big-ticket items, including Rolex and Patek Phillippe watches, Hermes and Chanel handbags, Jimmy Choo shoes, vintage wine and even a Roy Lichtenstein lithography of Marilyn Monroe, making purchases from Boston to Los Angeles to Palm Beach, Florida, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

Directed by 41-year-old ringleader Luis Damian “D.J.” Jacas, the group was choosy and careful, authorities said.

The waiters were told to focus on cards with high spending limits — such as the Amex gold or jet-black Centurion card — so their raft of pricey purchases wouldn't prompt American Express to call the cardholders. Even so, Jacas didn't allow more than US$35,000 in purchases on any one card and would ditch each after about three days' use, Kelly said.

The ring's shoppers were instructed on how to dress and act like customers accustomed to spending big, and they were equipped with fake Maryland and Pennsylvania drivers' licenses to back up their phony identities, authorities said. They made sure the cards were still valid by using them in a taxi or coffee shop before going into chic stores, and leaders went along to direct the purchases, officials added.

“This group was certainly well organized and very selective,” Kelly said at a news conference as he and other officials stood in front of a table strewn with some of the more than US$1 million in watches, 100 handbags and US$1.1 million in cash they said they had confiscated in various searches. The ring kept some of the loot for its own use and sold the rest, authorities said.

Jacas and 21 other defendants pleaded not guilty Friday. The rest were awaiting arraignment or hadn't yet been arrested.

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