Federal investigators are charging two 
citizens, Jiadong Cao and Xuejun Zheng, with possessing counterfeit devices after they found altered gift cards in the pair’s SUV amidst boxes containing more than 5,000 gift cards and took the two men into custody on June 21.
The investigation began on June 20, when the manager at CVS location in Hoover says he saw Cao and Zheng enter the store and swap out about 25 gift cards from a kiosk with cards they had brought into the store. Among the brands allegedly swapped: Nike, Macy’s and Best Buy.
The store manager saw the pair leaving in a gray Lexus SUV and gave Hoover police the tag number, and Hoover put out a Be On the Look Out (BOLO) for the SUV. The next day, Sat June 21, Pelham Police spotted the SUV and pulled it over after a traffic violation.
Inside, police say they found boxes stuffed with 5,078 gift cards, at least 15 of them Home Depot cards that the company confirms were altered.
Cao and Zheng are in custody in the Shelby County Jail, and federal investigators allege Cao is in the US illegally, and Zheng is here on a status of Protected/Asylum.
wsfa.com/2025/07/28/2-c
shelbycountyreporter.com/2025/07/28/two
citizens, Jiadong Cao and Xuejun Zheng, with possessing counterfeit devices after they found altered gift cards in the pair’s SUV amidst boxes containing more than 5,000 gift cards and took the two men into custody on June 21.
The investigation began on June 20, when the manager at CVS location in Hoover says he saw Cao and Zheng enter the store and swap out about 25 gift cards from a kiosk with cards they had brought into the store. Among the brands allegedly swapped: Nike, Macy’s and Best Buy.
The store manager saw the pair leaving in a gray Lexus SUV and gave Hoover police the tag number, and Hoover put out a Be On the Look Out (BOLO) for the SUV. The next day, Sat June 21, Pelham Police spotted the SUV and pulled it over after a traffic violation.
Inside, police say they found boxes stuffed with 5,078 gift cards, at least 15 of them Home Depot cards that the company confirms were altered.
Cao and Zheng are in custody in the Shelby County Jail, and federal investigators allege Cao is in the US illegally, and Zheng is here on a status of Protected/Asylum.
wsfa.com/2025/07/28/2-c
shelbycountyreporter.com/2025/07/28/two