A Brooklyn man has been charged with criminal possession of stolen property, identity theft, and other offenses after a court-authorized search revealed an array of stolen bank checks, credit cards, debit cards, and driver’s licenses in plain sight inside his Crown Heights apartment.
The investigation began when a Laurelton resident reported fraudulent charges on a credit card that had been ordered but never received, prompting the Queens District Attorney’s Office to take action.
Jamil Brown, 32, of Sterling Place, was arraigned Tuesday in Queens Criminal Court on a 243-count complaint charging him with running a large-scale postal theft operation. Brown’s girlfriend, Kadija Corke, was also arrested upon the execution of the warrant. Corke, 31, of New Jersey Avenue in Brooklyn, was arraigned Tuesday in Queens Criminal Court on a criminal complaint charging her with criminal possession of stolen property and other related crimes.
According to the charges and the investigation, on Sept. 19, a Laurelton resident attempted to use her credit card for a purchase, but the transaction was declined. After checking her account statements, the victim saw several unrecognized and unauthorized charges to the account.
Several days prior, the victim had applied for an additional credit card in her husband’s name under the same account, which she never received. An investigation was launched into the incident by the Queens District Attorney’s Crime Strategies and Intelligence Bureau and the NYPD’s Financial Crimes Task Force. Bank records revealed that the secondary card was mailed to the victim’s address and activated on September 19 using a telephone number that was later linked to Brown.
After the fraudulent activation of the victim’s credit card, six unauthorized charges were made at various retail establishments, including a Party City in Queens, a liquor store in Nassau County, and a convenience store in the Bronx. The card was later declined after Brown allegedly tried using it at various restaurants and retailers in Brooklyn more than five times. Video surveillance obtained by law enforcement depicted Brown at various locations conducting the alleged fraudulent purchases, and historical location information provided by court order further revealed that Brown’s cell phone was present at the locations of the alleged fraudulent transactions.
On the morning of Monday, Oct. 28, law enforcement officials executed the court-authorized search warrant inside Brown’s home, where he was found with co-defendant Corke, and both were arrested.
A total of 89 credit cards, 88 debit cards, 11 public benefit cards, 18 driver’s licenses and more than a dozen checks — including those made out to the St. Clare Catholic Academy in Laurelton, a plumbing and heating small business, a member of the Excavator’s Union and several checks issued to Queens residents by the U.S. Treasury Department — were recovered from the apartment. None of the documents recovered was issued in the name of either of the defendants. The approximate sum of all the seized funds is estimated to be in excess of $125,000.
Additionally, approximately $11,000 in cash was recovered from the location. Law enforcement also recovered 15 mobile phones, an embossing machine, a magnetic strip reader and encoding machine, printers and check-printing stock, and other items consistent with creating false documents and credit/debit cards. The investigation further revealed that Brown placed a total of 352 telephone calls since January to toll-free numbers connected to automated systems and customer service lines for EBT cards, Chase Bank, TD Bank, and American Express.
“As alleged, the defendant orchestrated a large-scale mail theft operation, targeting innocent victims to pilfer their bank accounts, credit cards, and public assistance funds in order to line his own pockets,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “Identity theft is a serious crime that can have a lasting impact on a person’s credit rating, ability to buy property or even rent an apartment.”
Queens Criminal Court Judge Edward Daniels ordered Brown to return to court on Nov. 19. If convicted of the top count, Brown faces a potential maximum sentence of up to 25 years in prison.
“Thanks to the resident who came forward and the subsequent work of my Crime Strategies and Intelligence Bureau, the person allegedly responsible has been apprehended and hundreds of sensitive documents were recovered,” Katz said.
Judge Edwards ordered Corke to return to court on Dec. 11. If convicted on the top count, Corke faces a potential maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
