Two Chinese nationals, Jiadong Cao and Xuejun Zheng, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Birmingham on charges of possessing counterfeit and unauthorized access devices. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona.
Court documents state that the defendants are accused of executing a scheme targeting gift cards at retail stores. They allegedly stole un-activated gift cards from store shelves, opened the packaging without leaving visible damage, and altered the cards to allow later access to funds added by consumers during purchase. The altered cards were then returned to their original packaging and placed back on store shelves for sale. Once consumers bought these cards and loaded funds onto them, the perpetrators reportedly drained the funds electronically.
On June 20, 2025, the Hoover Police Department issued a BOLO (Be On the Lookout) for two Asian males driving a Lexus SUV suspected of switching gift cards at local CVS stores. The following day, Pelham Police conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and obtained consent to search it. Officers discovered multiple boxes containing over 5,000 gift cards inside the SUV. Further investigation showed that most of these gift cards had parts of their numbers or PINs obliterated or altered.
If convicted, Cao and Zheng face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
The case is being investigated by the United States Secret Service in cooperation with the Hoover Police Department and Pelham Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Ryan S. Rummage is prosecuting.
“An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law,” according to the press release from U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona.
