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Five New York residents accused of using fake credit cards at high-end Oahu stores last year have been indicted by a grand jury and charged with 31 counts of identity theft and other crimes in Hawaii.
The indictment alleges that Falyshia Pierre-Lys, 22, Isatta Bassie, 19, and 24-year-olds Shawnese Adams, Sean Khani and Tamel Vaughn used counterfeit credit cards over a four-day span in April 2012 to rack up purchases totaling close to $325,500 from Honolulu retailers that included Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Gucci and Neiman Marcus.
The five defendants, who checked in to the Trump International Hotel Waikiki Beach Walk while in Hawaii, victimized 17 individuals, 14 companies and three credit card companies, the indictment says.
Pierre-Lys was extradited to Honolulu on Wednesday after being arrested in New York last month, according to the Honolulu prosecutor’s office. The grand jury indictment was unsealed after her extradition.
Brassie and Adams were arrested in Aruba in December but have not been extradited to Hawaii. Khani and Vaughn remain at large.
The prosecutor’s office said in a statement that a state law authorizing Hawaii state judges to issue search warrants for records in other states was instrumental in securing the indictment.
If convicted, the defendants face prison terms of up to 20 years.