Man faces felonies after packages sent to women
Cypress man accused of sending packages to women whose personal information he found on Facebook.
By JON CASSIDY
The Orange County Register
CYPRESS – A young man from Cypress is set to be charged Friday with 13 felonies for what authorities say was an elaborate scheme in which he would obtain the personal information of unsuspecting young women through Facebook, then send them packages using assumed identities.
The women would receive an e-mail with a tracking number for a package from an "Art Shaw" of Aramark Corp. When they opened the package, they would find blank notepaper and envelopes, and sometimes, markers. Sharpie markers, according to police.
Police allege Arpan Harshad Shah, 26, used aliases, false e-mail addresses, drop locations and stolen corporate FedEx account numbers to hide the fact that he was the one sending the women packages.
Shah faces arraignment on 13 felony counts of second-degree burglary, a "wobbler" charge applied to shoplifting and petty theft, which the court can reduce to a misdemeanor. A felony conviction carries a three-year prison sentence.
Shah is accused of using FedEx account numbers belonging to Aramark, Pacific Life Insurance Co. and Corinthian College to send more than 100 of the packages.
According to a search warrant obtained by the Anaheim Police Department, the investigation started after Aramark got phone calls from fathers wondering why their daughters were getting packages from an "Art Shaw." Aramark had no employee by that name, and discovered more than 100 fraudulent shipments in an audit of shipping records.
Most of the shipments were made at a FedEx-Kinko's store a few blocks from Shah's house on Aurelia Avenue in Cypress.
FedEx-Kinko's store employees remembered "Art Shaw," and store security captured "Art's" license plate, leading police to Shah, according to the warrant.
Anaheim police found that the Cypress Police Department, the UCLA Police Department and Pacific Life's corporate security were also investigating packages sent by an "Art Shaw."
Shah used the e-mail addresses beckham007ca@aol.com and kobe007ca@aol.com. Variations of those user names can be found on dozens of social networking sites in many languages.
Shah is out of custody on $40,000 bail.
When police served the search warrant, they found FedEx receipts from the three companies, Facebook records, notepads, envelopes and Sharpie markers. The Sharpies came in various colors.
Contact the writer: jcassidy@ocregister.com or 714-445-6694