Can you give me the gift cards you have? He's He's handcuffed right now. Oh, yeah. He's going to need an interpreter. Does he not know? Do you know English? Yeah. Sir? English? A little. A little? Uh I don't know. Small. Small? Okay. Um 6312 of Ocala, can I get a supervisor around? Did you read him his Miranda rights? Yes. I need I need to know about the retail. We just witnessed a I witnessed a retail theft happen. The gift cards have some monetary value, correct? >> Yes. So this is also a fraud That's 21. and a retail. Oh, yeah. It's a massive case. That's what So Yes, sir. That's what I'm saying. >> have anyone to target for 6312? If we can He's detained underneath the fraud that I did not the fraud the retail theft that I just witnessed. I just need to know if you guys are wanting to prosecute Okay. because I just witnessed also you said that this is also a fraud where he's putting them on the all in the wall. >> Yeah, you see him putting them up. Yes. Okay. >> Filipino, uh Chinese Japanese, or Korean? I'm Mandarin. Mandarin? Thank you. Scheming to the fraud / I mean we have we retail theft. But there's they're not if there's no value on it, it's not a fraud. It's like you still have paper. Okay. Okay. So, there is no monetary value for the gift cards that he took. >> Yep. Okay. So, scheming to the fraud would be cuz he put the he put the cards on the wall Okay. and took more. Okay. Um Can you go and start collecting all the gift cards that you put on the wall? Yes, we're going to need to at least a couple that have the scratched off ones, the ones that he touched and that we can verify. Hey, buddy. So, I got an incident. He speaks Mandarin, by the way. No English. So I guess there's a scam He only speaks Spanish, so I can't help you there either. Yeah, no, no, no. So, I guess there's a scam that goes on where people will come into businesses with already scratched off gift cards from the business. Okay. Place them on the wall, wait for somebody to buy it, and put money on it. And as soon as the cashier uploads the money, it goes to their account that they already have for it. Oh. So, he was I was literally just getting done with the 32, came in here to get the trespass warning signed, and on the on the they're watching him Yes, sir. on the wall, and then he grabs a handful of them and puts them in his pocket for the new ones he used. Yes, 14. >> So they're saying scheming to the fraud. That's vehicle 61, Peter. What are you thinking? What do you think? Because there I can't do I have him detained underneath I believe this is was an active fraud happening. They can't do anything on the retail because the gift cards have no value. Right. There's no monetary value for them. >> I would say it's fraud all day. That's what I was saying, the fraud for So, that's what It's false pretenses all day. That's what we got. I mean literally he's I'm just sitting here watching him look around, put card card card card like all around the thing, and then That's probably Ocala PD, 6312. and then just grabs a stack full of them, just right in the bag, and then he just walks out the door. Yes, ma'am. So, that's why I was going to you in just case he bolted on me. Sorry. [laughter] No, you're fine. Um he's saying something about his handcuffs. I'm trying to figure out what he's what he's talking about. Yeah, we're good for scheming to the fraud. We're good for scheming to the fraud? Yes. So Yeah, do you got a vehicle? This is what happened. This gentleman came in to I was finishing up a 32. This gentleman came into the Target. He only speaks Mandarin. Came to Target, went to the gift card section. Went to the gift card section, started putting gift cards that he brought into Target on the wall. Target employees advised me that whenever they do that, they've already had this back of it scratched off, and when somebody purchase it purchases the gift card, they load the money up not knowing it's scratched off, and so it goes to the person's account that already owns the gift card. Um now we have he put he put like a whole bunch of them on the wall to do that, and then he grabbed a stack of them, and then put it the stack of them in his bag. They can't do retail theft um for the gift cards cuz the gift cards hold no monetary value. So, they were asking about scan uh scam to the fraud. So, last time this happened if you check his car it's going to have a crap ton of gift cards in there. It's going to have laptops. It's going to have everything. Like they Last time this happened was on uh FHP got him on Gainesville leaving Gainesville leaving MyStore. Not the same person, but the same group. It's a big ORC ring. I'm going to run his tag right now to see how many other stores they've affected. Fantastic. Oh, yeah. He definitely Oh, god, yeah. They've hit multiple other stores. Jesus Christ. Eight different incidents is Nice. Same vehicle? The vehicle's out here, too? >> Yep. Okay. Same vehicle sitting right out there. Was there anybody in the car? He's got stuff so dark tinted in the back Yeah, we didn't get any 20. What's the tag on it? Yes. >> Yes. Have you ever been arrested in Marion County? No. First time coming here? First time coming here? >> Yeah. I had a driving violation in Dallas, Texas. Huh? He says he has a he's had a driving driving violation in Dallas, Texas. That's the only thing he's had. He understands what you're saying. Instead of Go ahead and stand up. And then turn around. It's a big guy. He He understands English. He can sit there and It's a very intricate scheme. So, yeah. Ex- Explain it one more time to me. So, what he's going to do is he take and place his cards on the shelf. So, he already has the information saved on it. So, as soon as somebody activates them, he can burn them. He can use them. Okay. So, they the customer will come, pick up that gift card thinking that they're going to put a $100 on that gift card. They take it to your registers. Your register puts money on that exact gift card using the exact information on the gift card. >> Yep. And that's what he already has downloaded and has it somewhere. >> Yep, he already has it loaded. So, and then he takes the ones home with him, and he'll take and redo the same thing, and then drop it off at the next store and next one. There's six totes in that car. I guarantee you all six totes are full of gift cards, laptops, all kinds of amazing information. Good gosh. Like, yeah. Last time this happened it was just massive. These are the ones he placed, right? Yes, those are the ones he placed. Try not Now, I mean Um what business do you have here in Ocala, Florida tonight? Why are you here? >> [snorts] >> Not to answer this question. Okay. Can you tell me what he what happened at the Target store tonight and why he's in here at with me now? Okay. So from what I understand, you went to Target. You brought a fan a bag in with you. You put gift cards up on the gift card wall. And then you stole gift cards and left the store, and we stopped you. Do you recall that? Why did he come into the store with gift cards in his bag and put them onto the gift card rack? I mean, tonight I was looking for a gig for a job, and someone reached out to me that saying to me you could do that. So, you can uh put the gift cards uh onto the shelves uh uh in the supermarkets. And I I You can go ahead with the translation now. Um So, how did he get the gift cards? And if he was hired by somebody to put them into the store, how was he getting paid? That I'm not sure. But they told me that once you hang one gift card up there, then you get 30 cents. So throughout the day, if you can do 700 to 1,000, and I did my math then um the price I would be able to get is something that I would accept uh as if there was like a a job. It's equivalent to a a job. So, I I think I I could uh do this gig. Okay. So earlier why lie about this being your first time doing it tonight? Why lie about it? Okay, so in none of the other 39 incidents that are in this binder you didn't hang any cards, you just took cards? Okay. Okay. So, tonight you're being placed under arrest for the incident at Target. Your vehicle has been towed to our police department for a search warrant. And we're taking possession of your phone as well. Do you have any questions for me? Tonight right now you're going to jail for theft of the gift cards from Target. So, being that you took various different cards, Target advised that those cards are cost them anywhere between a quarter to a dollar 44 each. So, um averaging them out to a dollar a card and you took 54 cards. So, you stole $54 worth of gift cards. >> [snorts] >> The 54 The 54 gift cards are the amount of gift cards in his possession at the time of arrest from Target. That's how many gift cards you have in your bag out there from Target tonight. You will go to the jail tonight. In the morning you will see the judge and you can be bonded out. You're going to have to call somebody to pay it. We We can't help that way. You'll have to call the lady that was with you at the Target. You can call her. You can call that phone number from the jail or when you get bonded out tomorrow and just give them the case number and ask them to speak with the detective investigating the case and they will connect you to them. I will write the case number on the back of that business card. They will not be removed until you get to jail. But, if they are too tight, I can get the officer in here to adjust them for you. Authorities later discovered thousands of stolen gift cards connected to the operation representing nearly 1.9 million dollars in potential losses. Liao has since pleaded guilty and now faces up to 10 years in federal prison.