Police: Three charged with Home Depot gift card scam

Nassau police have arrested three men who they said scammed several Home Depots in the county for almost $29,000.

Nicholas Scuro, 25, of Massapequa; Kurt Walther, 22, of Wantagh; and Husam Elghonami, 24, of Levittown, were arrested Wednesday in Uniondale and charged with grand larceny and drug possession after police said they pulled off a debit/gift card scam at Home Depot stores over four months.

Police said that between Sept. 4 and Wednesday, the three men stole merchandise from Home Depot stores and returned it for debit/gift cards -- collecting 37 cards worth about $28,800. They sold the cards to a pawnshop.

About 5 p.m. Wednesday, police said, detectives saw the three steal, sell the cards and buy a substance police believed to be heroin. They were later arrested.

The three are charged with third-degree grand larceny. Scuro and Walther also face three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance and Elghonami two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, police said.All three defendants will be arraigned todayat First District Court in Hempstead.