Duo Allegedly Makes Thousands of Dollars in Fraudulent Mall Purchases

Abington Police arrested two out-of-towners after they allegedly made $3,000 in fraudulent gift card purchases at Willow Grove Park mall.

Rasshaul Foster, 30, of Chauncey Street, Brooklyn; and Ernestina Vanessa Reyes, 25, of Prospect Avenue, Hackensack, N.J., were arrested late last month and charged with forgery, identity theft and criminal conspiracy after they allegedly used forged or counterfeit credit cards to make $1,000 worth of fraudulent gift card purchases at Bloomingdale’s and $2,000 worth of fraudulent gift card purchases at Macy’s, both at Willow Grove Park mall.

According to police, Reyes and Foster used two separate counterfeit or forged credit cards to make two $500 gift card purchases at Bloomingdale’s – one at about 3 p.m. and another at 5:22 p.m. on Feb. 23.

And, police said Reyes and Foster used the same credit cards as the ones used at Bloomingdale’s to make five $400 gift card purchases at Macy’s between 3:17 and 3:52 p.m.; police said similar fraudulent purchases were made or attempted by the pair at several other stores in and around the mall.

During each transaction Reyes would select a gift card, produce a credit card and make an electronic signature to complete the transaction, police said.

Reyes and Foster were arrested at about 5:40 p.m. after they attempted to leave the mall parking lot in a black Toyota Camry with New York tags. The fraudulently purchased gift cards were found in the vehicle, police said.

According to court documents, Reyes waived her preliminary hearing; formal arraignment for both defendants is scheduled for April 24 at 9:30 a.m. in Courtroom A.