Two men who are accused of stealing nearly $65,000 in a debit card theft ring that spanned several states faced a judge on Monday.
Police in Hudson, New Hampshire said a tipster's call led to the discovery of the operation. Authorities received a call Friday of a suspicious man spending a lot of time at the Digital Federal Credit Union ATM.
"If you see something, you say something. And this individual did," said Hudson Police Chief William Avery. "Who knows how much money that was totally stolen, or could have been stolen?"
Police arrested Syed Hoque, 23, of Brooklyn, New York, as a result of the call and discovered thousands of dollars in cash and debit cards inside the vehicle he was driving.
The investigation led officials to a Days Hotel, where police say Hoque and two other men were operating a theft ring. The two other men were identified as 30-year-old Tharushan Nirmalachandran of Quebec, Canada and 28-year-old Ajitharan Reveendran of Ontario, Canada.
Nirmalachandran and Reveendran appeared in Lawrence District Court Monday where they were ordered held on $500,000 bail.
"The two co-defendants have different sides of the story," said a defense attorney.
Methuen Police Capt. Kristopher McCarthy said the trio flew to Atlanta from Toronto and each rented their own vehicles to travel up the East Coast. They then ended up in Methuen.
Authorities said the men used an illegal scanner device to load fake money onto stolen prepaid debit cards, and then using the cards to withdraw real money.
Nirmalachandran and Reveendran are due back in court next month. It's unclear when Hoque is due to be arraigned or if he has an attorney.
Authorities said more arrests could be made.
