Detroit twins, accused ring-leaders in credit card fraud uncovered in Saginaw

The pair were charged with racketeering, bank fraud, fraud by wire and removal of property to prevent seizure, court records show.

Sentencing dates are pending.

U.S. Secret Service agents in Saginaw began investigating the Hunters after Saginaw County sheriff’s deputies arrested three people Dec. 11, 2008, at Meijer in Kochville Township, court records show.

The trio — Maurice E. Watkins, Derrick J. Moore and Ashley R. Allen — used 14 counterfeit Visa gift cards to purchase items such as a 42-inch LCD television worth $1,356 and $900 worth of Meijer gift cards, records show.

Evidence suggests the cards also were used at Meijer stores in Flint and Walmart stores in Ypsilanti.

The counterfeit cards were encoded with bona fide Chase Visa card numbers, authorities have said.

Secret Service agents traced the cards back to the Hunters and another Detroit-area resident, Brian D. Coleman.

Investigators said one of the Hunter brothers wore a small box on a chain around his neck. Agents said they believed the box was a skimmer, a device used to collect credit card information and encode it onto the magnetic strips of other credit or gift cards.

Dionte Hunter, at the time of his arrest, was on probation for possessing fraudulent financial transaction devices. He was arrested in December 2006 when he tried to buy $2,000 worth of merchandise from a Roseville Toys R Us.

An observant cashier thwarted the sale when she noticed the last four digits on the card didn’t match the numbers on the receipt.

U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Ludington in December ordered Watkins to serve 40 months in prison and pay nearly $587,000 restitution

Watkins, Moore, Allen and Coleman pleaded to conspiracy to commit access fraud, records indicate.

Ludington ordered Moore to serve 12 months, Allen to serve 13 months and Coleman to serve 35 months and assist Watkins in paying the restitution.