Two days after four employees of Golden Town Buffet Hibachi & Sushi in Glenmont were arrested on charges of identity theft and deportation warrants, the restaurant’s owners were issued a citation for having too many occupants living upstairs.
Bethlehem Building Inspector Gil Bouchard said during his inspection of the two apartments upstairs from the eatery there looked to be 20 mattresses lying on the floor. Town code only allows for two mattresses per bedroom, with each apartment having three bedrooms.
“We gave the owners a violation notice,” said Bouchard. “We will check back next week to see if the problem has been corrected, and if not they will have to appear in court and may get a fine.”
The Bethlehem Police Department arrested four employees of Golden Town Buffet on Monday, Aug. 5, after obtaining a search warrant for an investigation involving identify theft.
Police executed the warrant at the restaurant on Route 9W and said the investigation found that the credit and debit card information of some customers had been compromised.
Police said Heng Li, 27, of Brooklyn, was found in possession of a credit card skimming device and a counterfeit Michigan license. Authorities are now trying to determine how much information was on the device.
Also arrested were Min Chen, 47, and Zhi Yun Lui, 39, who both listed the restaurant as their address, and Qiaimin Zheng, 18, who is listed as homeless. All three were allegedly found to have outstanding federal deportation warrants and were turned over to federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further action.
Bethlehem police Detective Sgt. Adam Hornick said the investigation began after the department received numerous reports of unauthorized purchases on their bank statement for both Golden Town Buffet and other retail locations.
A Selkirk woman, who asked not to be identified, said she canceled her credit card after she noticed there were two unauthorized charges for $3 and $5 on the same day.
She was visiting the restaurant with her friends on Tuesday, Aug. 6, and all of them said they would continue visiting the business.
“We just feel that it is a shame for such a nice, new place to have a black mark,” she said. “I still intended to frequent the restaurant and hope everything blows over.”
She said the restaurant “needs to screen their help a little better” and she never noticed “anything suspicious” while eating there.
Hornick said the skimmer used was not inserted into the restaurant’s credit card machine, but was something Li could hold in his hand. Police are warning customers to not let their debit or credit cards out of their sight when dining out and to keep an eye on their bank statements.
Police said the owners of the restaurant are cooperating in the investigation. Golden Town Buffet, though it was only accepting cash for a time, has changed its checkout process.
Golden Town owner Linda Zheng said customers are now being asked to come to the front to pay their bills themselves, instead of handing their credit card or money to the wait staff at the end of their meal. She also said new hires will be better vetted. The restaurant obtains workers through a temp agency, Zheng said.
“I couldn’t believe these kids would do those types of illegal things,” Zheng said. “I thought everybody was supposed to work hard, to support their own family and own self in a proper, legal way.”
Zheng said she was heartbroken about the incident and wanted to ensure customers they had no idea what was going on. However, she declined to be interviewed again after the town code citation was issued.
Bethlehem police obtained a warrant to look for evidence at the restaurant after speaking with other local law officials over several weeks about other complaints from residents in neighboring towns.
According to court documents, Hornick asked Li last Monday where he obtained the skimmer device from.
“A lady in city,” Li replied.
The detective then asked how many people’s information was stolen. Li said “lots.”
Hornick also asked if the number was around 10 to 20 people. Li said “No, more like 50 to 100 or more.” Hornick asked if that information was on the device at the time of Li’s arrest, and Li replied “yes.”
Hornick said the device seized has the capability to store the information for about 500 to 1,000 people. Authorities are now attempting to get a search warrant for the device.
The information was being used to make small purchases at Golden Town Buffet and large purchases, such as gift cards, from other establishments, according to police.
Li was charged with felony counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree and scheming to defraud in the first degree, and misdemeanor counts of unlawful possession of a skimmer device and unlawful possession of personal identification information in the third degree. He was also charged with having an outstanding federal warrant for deportation.
Li appeared in Bethlehem Town Court on Thursday, Aug. 8. Using a public defender, he waived his right to a preliminary hearing and was sent back to Albany County jail without bail. He can now apply at the county level to receive bail, but was deemed a flight risk by Town Justice Ryan Donovan.
Police are asking anyone who went to the eatery between June 15 and Aug. 5 and paid by credit or debit card to check their bank statements and immediately report any fraudulent transactions.
Bethlehem police were assisted in the investigation by the Albany police, Colonie police, New York State Police in New Scotland and Clifton Park, East Greenbush police, U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security.
Police said the investigation is still active and more information will be released as soon as it becomes available. Further charges may be pending.
Reporter John Purcell contributed to this story.