Pair Arrested After Racking Up $56K in Stolen Credit Card Purchases: Cops

SALEM, NH - Two Massachusetts men are accused of purchasing more than $56,000 worth of Apple products for the Best Buy location on South Broadway across four weeks, according to a police theft investigation.

Edward Then, 35, pictured left, of North Andover, MA, was arrested on May 12, 2016, and charged with credit card fraud and theft by deception. Also arrested was David Figueroa, 30, of Lawrence, MA, for credit card fraud and theft by deception.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Salem Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. Click this link, which explains New Hampshire Patch's police log name removal policy.

Police were sent to the store at around 1:15 p.m. yesterday after learning that approximately 60 transactions, totaling $56,253, had been made at the store with stolen credit card numbers during the past four weeks, according to a report.

• Sign up for news alerts from local New Hampshire Patch sites.

“Salem Police determined that a Best Buy employee was accepting payment for all the merchandise,” according to Lt. Thomas Kench of the Salem Police Department, “which mainly consisted of Apple products and accessories, by manually keying stolen credit card numbers that were given to him by Edward Then.”

With the assistance of detectives and Best Buy employees, officers learned that Then “would soon be arriving at the store to conduct another transaction with a stolen credit card number,” according to Kench.

“A short time later, Then arrived at the store to conduct the transaction and was placed in custody without incident,” Kench said.

Detectives identified the man driving with Then - Figueroa – and reportedly determined he was an accomplice during the previous fraudulent transactions, according to an arrest report.

Both men refused bail and are being held in the Rockingham County House of Corrections.

“The Salem Police Department is actively working to identify the victims associated with the stolen credit card numbers as well as how their credit information was obtained,” Kench said. “Salem Police are still investigating the extent of the involvement that the Best Buy employee had in the scheme as well as criminal charges. “

Figueroa, a former nightclub bouncer, made headlines after reportedly beating up an opponent of embattled former Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua at a fried chicken restaurant in May 2011, according to WBZ.