IL-Illegal immigrant plans guilty plea for bar code fraud
Illegal immigrant plans guilty plea for bar code fraud
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May 27, 2010
BY TERESA AUCH SCHULTZ
A Crown Point man in the country illegally will plead guilty to running a scam that used fake, low-priced bar codes to buy expensive items at Lowe's, according to a plea agreement.
The agreement, filed in the U.S. District Court in Hammond, says that Branko Nenadic will plead guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen goods.
Nenadic, 26, was originally accused in March of running a scheme where he would create the fake bar codes and then place them over actual bar codes on Lowe's products. He would then buy them, usually at a self-service checkout station. He would sell the items online for their actual value or take the fake bar code off and return the product to a different Lowe's store, where he would receive store credit because he didn't have a receipt. He would use the store credit to buy more items with his fake bar codes, according to court documents.
According to the plea agreement, Nenadic admits to using his scheme more than 150 times and that value of the items was less than $70,000. The indictment said that the value was $69,272 and that he had committed theft in 91 stores in 14 states.
He also enlisted the help of other people, according to the indictment, but it did not list any names.
Nenadic was caught when he tried to buy a chain saw from a Lowe's and the self-checkout station said he needed a manager's override. He left the store without the item but forgot to take the fake bar code off before leaving. Officials then tracked him down using security cameras and store records, according to the indictment.
He also committed the crimes after having been arrested in February 2009 in Texas when he admitted that he was a Serbian national who hadn't left the United States when his six-month visa expired several years ago.
Nenadic faces up to 10 years in prison on the charge. He has also agreed to pay full restitution.
He was still going through deportation hearings in March when he was arrested on the new charges.
http://www.post-trib.com/news/2321896,n ... 27.article
