Thread: Illegal held in shopping scam

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$300,000 bail set


Illegal held in shopping scam
Police say his 'cheat sheet' listed aliases


By ANNMARIE TIMMINS
Monitor staff


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February 09. 2007 8:00AM





A New York man who is in the country illegally and had a "cheat sheet" to keep his aliases straight is being held on $300,000 cash bail for allegedly trying to buy more than $4,000 worth of electronics from Circuit City and Best Buy in Concord using a suspicious credit card.

The police arrested Muhammad Akram, 33, of Queens, N.Y., Wednesday evening at Best Buy and charged him with two counts of attempted theft by deception and one count of resisting arrest. At Akram's arraignment in Concord District Court yesterday, Concord city prosecutor Tracy Connelly said Akram has previous forgery and larceny convictions in New Jersey and New York and is in the United States illegally.

Paula Grenier, spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Boston, confirmed yesterday that Akram does have "immigration issues" pending but said further details were not immediately available. She said once Akram is released on bail or resolves his Concord cases, he will be transferred to the custody of immigration officials.

Akram is Pakistani but was posing as an Indian national, the police said. It appears he's been in the United States since at least 1999 because he was convicted in New York and New Jersey that year. The Concord police had trouble identifying Akram because he gave a fake name, they said. They finally learned his name by running his fingerprints through an FBI database.

He had not hired or been appointed a lawyer as of yesterday but will be given one if he can't afford it. A man attended the court proceeding on Akram's behalf yesterday but declined to be identified. The man, who said he lives in Claremont, said he and Akram have a mutual friend in New York and that he agreed to attend the arraignment at the friend's request.



According to a police affidavit, Akram first drew attention to himself Wednesday at Circuit City when he tried to buy about $4,600 worth of computer equipment and electronics. He tried to pay with a "suspicious" credit card and false identification, according to a police press release. The police declined to be more specific about what Akram was trying to buy and what made him appear suspicious, and a manager at Circuit City said she could not comment.
After the store declined to sell Akram the items, he went to Best Buy, the police said. But staff there knew to look for him because someone from Circuit City called ahead to alert them. Someone also notified the Concord police, and Officer Daniel McDonald found Akram at the customer service counter trying to buy $4,400 worth of equipment and electronics.

When McDonald asked Akram for identification, Akram gave him a Virginia driver's license and a credit card bearing the name A. Mazhar Choudhary, age 40, according to a police affidavit. McDonald asked Akram to confirm his name date of birth. Akram missed the name - he said Chaudrey A. Mazhar - and gave his birth year as 1960, the affidavit said.

When McDonald asked for Akram's birth month and day, Akram said it was on the license. The two repeated that conversation several times and Akram began sweating, the affidavit said. Akram ignored McDonald's request that Akram keep his hands out of his pockets. He offered to get a passport out of his car.

Concerned that Akram had something in his pocket that could endanger the store's customers, McDonald told Akram he was going to pat him down. Akram resisted and the police handcuffed him, the affidavit said. He had no weapons.

At the police station, Akram could not remember his date of birth. The police discovered that Akram also had other names written down with him, none of which came back as an accurate identification, the affidavit said. The police eventually identified Akram through his fingerprints.

Lt. Walter Carroll said the case was under investigation and that it was too early to tell whether Akram was working with others. It appears he may have gotten a ride to Best Buy and Circuit City because after his arrest, the police searched parking lots at both stores for his car and did not find it, Carroll said.

During Akram's arraignment yesterday, which was done by video because Akram is being held at the Merrimack County jail, Connelly said Akram uses four aliases. She also said the federal authorities had began the process of removing Akram from the United States in July 2004, but she did not have more information about that. Grenier also could not elaborate yesterday.

Connolly cited Akram's illegal status, his aliases and criminal record in her argument for high bail. He was convicted in New Jersey in 1999 on charges of forgery, theft by deception and wrongful impersonation, Connolly told Judge Gerard Boyle.

That same year, Akram was convicted in New York on charges of forgery, unlicensed operation and possession of a forged instrument, Connolly said. And in 2001, he was convicted in New York again on charges of larceny and aggravated unlicensed operation. He was on the run on that last set of charges for three years, she told Boyle.

Boyle granted Connolly's requested $300,000 cash bail. Akram, who didn't say much during his arraignment, protested the amount. "Why $300,000?" he asked the judge. "That is a lot."

Akram is due back in court on Feb. 19 for a probable cause hearing.

this guy should not have had bail set. He has jumped bail before. When are the courts going to support America and not illegals.