2 accused of stealing at least $50,000 from area casinos
Two New York men have been charged with stealing at least $50,000 from casinos in Elgin, Aurora and Joliet by using forged credit cards in March 2013, according to Kane County court records and the Illinois attorney general's office.
Xin Chen, 55, and Xueliang Li, 59, both of Flushing, N.Y., recently were indicted in Kane County on 11 felony charges of defrauding a financial institution, identity theft, burglary, theft, use of a forged credit card and wire fraud, according to court records.
Both men served time in prison after pleading guilty to felony fraud charges out of Dearborn County in southwest Indiana, according to Indiana State prison records.
Li was extradited to Kane County on Tuesday; Chen's prison term is up, but his extradition has been delayed because he is ill, said Maura Possley, the attorney general's office spokeswoman.
Possley said Li and Chen are accused of bilking at least $50,000 total from the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, Hollywood Casino in Aurora and Harrah's Casino in Joliet, using forged credit cards to buy "comp checks" from casino kiosks.
The pair would cash the comp checks and keep the money, Possley said.
"They used counterfeit credit cards - cards that were embossed with their names but encoded with different account information. They used those to buy comp checks," Possley said. "They were both arrested and convicted in Indiana for a similar scheme."
The incidents took place between March 6, 2013, and March 11, 2013, said Possley, who added the investigation is ongoing.
Li is next due in Kane County court March 20. He was being held on $500,000 bail.
Chen is still being held by the Indiana Department of Corrections.
The two were arrested in March 2013 on charges of fraud and forgery, according to the Dearborn County Circuit Court Clerk's Office.
Both pleaded guilty in October 2013 to fraud and were sentenced to two years in prison.
After time off for good behavior, their terms ended this week, but they were charged by Illinois authorities.
Both face a top prison term of up to 15 years if convicted.