Cops: Six charged in credit card fraud

A botched attempt to set up one group member is what led Nassau County police to bust a credit card fraud ring, police said.

Five vehicles, two handguns, nearly $200,000 in cash, expensive jewelry and electronics were seized in the bust, Nassau police said.

Ozgur Yetim of Merrick, Pasa Oksuz of Massachusetts, Akin Koc of Lindenhurst, Charles Sumpter of Rosedale, Cagatay Unlu of Bellmore and Ismail Yetim of Elmont face multiple charges on counts of credit card fraud, grand larceny, money laundering, possession of a weapon and conspiracy.

The investigation, called Operation "Bust Out," began six months ago after Unlu and Sumpter placed 911 calls to police reporting that there were two handguns in one unidentified group member's car. Yetim, who was identified as the group's ringleader, planted two handguns in that unidentified person's car because he was becoming competition in Yetim's scheme, police said.

Those calls led police to discover a credit card fraud ring in which, they said, the defendants paid up to $70,000 to use the good credit ratings of Turkish nationals who were leaving the country.

The six men were arrested Saturday after police executed four search warrants at unidentified locations. Among the luxury cars police seized was a 2007 black Bentley Continental that police said was fraudulently purchased by Yetim.

Police shed light on the complicated scheme Wednesday, at a news conference at police headquarters in Mineola.

"It was all about greed," said Det. Sgt. Pat Ryder. " . . . and you, the taxpayer, would be stuck with the bill at the end of the day."

Ryder said the defendants would max out their available credit by taking cash advances and making purchases with no intention of ever making repayment. That, in turn, would cause the credit card companies to charge off the debt and eventually, said Ryder, consumers would foot the bill through higher fees. The funds from those advances would be deposited and transferred into various bank accounts and eventually wired out of the country.

Police said Yetim would use some of the cards at his own businesses to build higher credit on them.

Yetim owns an Express Gas station at 70 E. Jericho Tpke., Mineola, and another at 515 Old Country Rd., Westbury.

Oksuz, an undocumented immigrant from Turkey, faces deportation.

Koc, who has green card, also faces deportation, police said.