A federal grand jury in Birmingham has indicted Xiebin Xue, a 40-year-old Chinese national, on charges of possessing counterfeit gift cards. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona.
The indictment alleges that on January 10, 2024, Xue was found with at least 33 gift cards that had been re-encoded so the card numbers differed from those printed on the cards. Additionally, he allegedly possessed at least two gift cards with fake bar code labels that did not match the numbers printed or encoded on the cards.
The United States Secret Service and the Tuscaloosa Police Department investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Brett A. Janich is prosecuting.
If convicted, Xue faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for possessing fifteen or more counterfeit or unauthorized access devices.
"An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law," according to the announcement.
