California man accused of fraudulently getting Apple, Nintendo products at Utah Costcos

OREM — A California man is accused of using bank cards obtained illegally to purchase Apple and Nintendo products at Costco stores across Utah and Salt Lake counties, and then shipping them out of state.

Shijian Ni, 19, of Los Angeles, was arrested Thursday for investigation of communications fraud, money laundering, engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, unlawful use of a bank card, drug possession and use of drug paraphernalia.

This week, Orem police were contacted by Costco employees who reported a man "was visiting multiple Costco Warehouse locations in Utah buying Apple and Nintendo electronics using multiple different payment cards and utilizing the 'tap to pay' method," a police booking affidavit states.

Police say based on prior cases, they recognized that "the cards used for these 'tap to pay' payments to be fraudulently obtained and the electronics items to be shipped out of state, with the probability of being taken out of the country," according to the affidavit.

Investigators believe on Wednesday and Thursday, "Ni entered nine Costco locations in Utah and Salt Lake County. He used a total of 18 different financial transaction cards to purchase six pairs of Airpods, 12 iPads, and 10 Nintendo Switch 2's, for a total cost of $19,787.52," and then shipped or was planning to ship the products of state, the affidavit states.

Orem police arrested Ni at the Costco in Sandy "after another electronics attempted purchase," police stated.

"At the time of arrest, a Nintendo Switch and two Apple iPads were recovered from his vehicle, as well as a FedEx shipping receipt showing three boxes which had been shipped from the Salt Lake City area," the affidavit states.

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