NEW YORK—Two former Pret A Manger staff allegedly skimmed customers’ credit card details to forge cards with their own names on them, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Nigel McCollum, 22, and Lenica Greene, 23, have been charged with identity theft, forgery, criminal possession of a forged instrument, criminal possession of forgery devices, and grand larceny, among other charges, in a 602-count indictment in New York State Supreme Court.
McCollum is a former kitchen employee at the 23rd Street Pret A Manger in Chelsea. Over several months he recruited staff members to give him the credit card information of more than 100 customers, according to the indictment and statements made on record in court.
Police searched McCollum’s apartment and found two card skimmers, two encoding devices, an embosser, blank credit cards, hundreds of forged credit cards in McCollum’s name, and multiple cards in Greene’s name. Greene is a former employee at another Pret A Manger restaurant.
The two lived together and are in a relationship, the New York Daily News reported.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said McCollum and Greene had used some of the cards to make personal purchases.
McCollum allegedly told police after his arrest that he had made “over 10 grand” from the scheme, the Daily News reported.
The investigation is ongoing.
