WESTPORT — A New York man, charged in May for fraudulently buying expensive liquor from a local store that was delivered to his car parked nearby, allegedly orchestrated a multi-state scheme to sell steeply discounted liquor purchased with illegal credit cards, according to police.
Eric Chau, 24, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was charged with illegal possession of personal identity information, third-degree identity theft and illegal trafficking in personal identity information in connection with new charges filed Aug. 31 by Westport police.
Chau was charged in May with credit card fraud and fourth-degree larceny. The arrest came after a delivery driver told police he was suspicious about several orders of “high-dollar” liquor from BevMax on Post Road East, which were delivered to a man seated in a car parked in front of a house under construction on nearby George Street.
Chau, identified as the man in the car, allegedly made several purchases of expensive liquor from the store, using different credit cards, none of which bore his name, police said at the time.
After the May arrest, police detectives were issued search warrants to investigate data on Chau’s cell phones and, according to the report, “evidence was found that implicated Mr. Chau in larger, more complex fraud involving the purchase and sale of ‘high-end’ liquor with fraudulent credit cards.”
Using trafficked personal information to fraudulently obtain credit cards, Chau then used the cards to illegally buy liquor that he re-sold at discounted prices, police said.
He allegedly was “committing these crimes in many states along the East Coast,” according to the report.
A warrant for Chau’s arrest on the new charges was issued and he turned himself in Aug. 31 at Police Department headquarters. He posted $100,000 bond and was scheduled for arraignment Sept. 6 at state Superior Court in Stamford.
