in multiple New Jersey towns.
Brooks and his brother Jarid Brooks, 29, enlisted the help of Kyle Williams, a postal service employee in West Caldwell, federal prosecutors said. Williams swiped envelopes and gave them to the Brooks brothers and Kyjuan Hutchins, who bought merchandise and gift cards in in Essex, Hudson, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset and Union counties from July 2019 until early October 2020, officials said.
At least eight victims in West Caldwell, Fairfield, Roselle Park, Boonton and North Caldwell suffered $70,000 in losses from fraudulent purchases made using their stolen credit cards. Brooks also schemed to fraudulently use over $13,000 of funds pre-loaded onto Economic Impact Payment cards issued by the U.S Treasury Department, federal prosectors said.
Dozens more Amazon, American Express, Dunkin, Visa, Netspend, Greendot, CWC and Walmart gift cards and debit cards were seized from Jarid Brooks’ home, officials said.