Archive for March, 2012

Going Postal

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012
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Have you been to the new post office in downtown Greenwich yet?

Well, if you are a post office box holder, you are in for a treat.

The new PO Boxes are arranged RANDOMLY. Do you think PO Box 141, for example, is between 140 and 142? Wrong! It is between 66 and 211, with box 30 to the north of it and 161 to the south of it.

As one wag sarcastically put it, “I never would have thought of a way to keep customers in my store longer. Who says no innovation comes from the public sector.”

GPD case leads to Federal conviction.

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012
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This was a case started with the Task Force and Greenwich PD. Numerous victims from the Greenwich/Stamford area.

U.S. Department of Justice

United States Attorney
District of Connecticut

www.justice.gov/usao/ct

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2012

CONTACT:
Tom Carson
Public Information Office
(203) 821-3722
(203) 996-1393 (cell)

Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force:
FORMER STAMFORD RESTAURANT WAITRESS
INVOLVED IN CREDIT CARD FRAUD SCHEME IS SENTENCED

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that CHIBUZO OKAFOR, 26, of Rosedale, N.Y., was sentenced yesterday, March 13, by United States District Judge Janet C. Hall in Bridgeport to two months of imprisonment and four months of home confinement for her role in a credit card fraud scheme.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from September 2008 to January 2009, OKAFOR worked as a waitress at a restaurant in Stamford. While working at the restaurant, OKAFOR and a co-worker, Natasha Smith, stole credit card information from customers through the use of “skimming” devices. When restaurant customers paid with their credit cards, OKAFOR and Smith swiped the cards through hand-held skimmers before running them through the restaurant’s own legitimate credit card verification system. The skimming devices copied and stored the account information encoded on the magnetic strips on the back of the credit cards.

Every few weeks, an individual who supplied the skimming devices met OKAFOR or Smith so they could turn over to him the credit card information stored on the devices. OKAFOR and Smith were paid either $20 or $25 for each credit card they successfully swiped through the skimming device. They were then given new skimmers so they could continue with the scheme. The stolen credit card information was later used by members of the conspiracy to make unauthorized purchases.

While OKAFOR and Smith were employed at the Stamford restaurant, approximately 92 credit cards were compromised, the majority of which were compromised by OKAFOR, resulting in losses of approximately $135,888. Approximately $145,435 in additional losses have been attributed to the conspiracy earlier in 2008 while OKAFOR was employed at a restaurant in New York.

OKAFOR has been ordered to pay restitution of $281,323.
On March 10, 2010, OKAFOR pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud.

Smith pleaded guilty to the same charge and, on December 27, 2011, she was sentenced to three years of probation, the first four months to be served in home confinement. She also was ordered to pay restitution of $135,888.

This investigation was conducted by the Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force, notably the United States Postal Inspection Service and the United States Secret Service. The Task Force also includes members from the United States Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security; the Connecticut State Police; and the Glastonbury, Greenwich, Hartford, New Haven and Shelton Police Departments.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Paul Murphy.

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More details on burglary at Richard’s

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012
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Monday, March 12 around 2 a.m. two disguised men broke through the back door of Richard’s. The smash-and-grab mirrored two similar burglaries at Mitchell’s (the brother store of Richard’s) in Westport. The get-away car in all three cases was a silver or gray mini-van. Even though the burglary occurred a mere block from police headquarters, the GPD was not notified until 15 minutes after the alarm was sounded.

BREAKING NEWS: Richard’s Hit

Monday, March 12th, 2012
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Greenwich Police are investigating an early morning burglary of Richard’s clothing store on Greenwich Avenue. More details to follow.

Letter to the Editor: Girl Scouts Event March 12

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012
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Dear Editor

March 12, 2012 marks the Hundredth Anniversary of the first Girl Scout meeting held in the home of Juliette Gordon Low, in Savannah Georgia. From the humble beginnings of eighteen young women at that first meeting, we are now 3.2 million active girl and adult members today, with fifty million alumnae. Former Girl Scouts represent sixty percent of the female members of both houses of the U.S. Congress. Girl Scout Alumnae own businesses, are CEO’s, teachers, doctors, fire, police and EMS professionals. Girl Scouting helps today’s girls to reach for the stars. Twenty-seven female astronauts were Girl Scouts. Our programs are dedicated to building confidence and character, strong values and contributing to society.

To mark this very special anniversary, Greenwich Girl Scouts will hold a celebration event on Monday, March 12th at Greenwich Town Hall from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. We are hoping that any Girl Scout alumnae that currently live or work in Greenwich will join us for a Flag Ceremony, a Proclamation by First Selectman Peter Tesei and participation in our Promise Circle, timed to coincide with others around Connecticut.

More details can be found on our website, www.greenwichgirlscouts.com.

We look forward to meeting the many former Girl Scouts in our community.

Sincerely,
Cynthia Zizzi & Tammy Livermore
Greenwich Girl Scouts
Co-Service Unit Managers