A couple from Virginia are facing felony charges after they allegedly rerouted the Uber Eats payouts from a restaurant in Lower Gwynedd to their own bank account.
Lower Gwynedd Police were contacted by the owner of Vic Sushi & Thai Cuisine in May 2023 regarding fraud on their Uber Eats merchant account. The owner told police that that their tablet device from Uber Eats had malfunctioned in February 2023, and upon receiving a new device from Uber Eats, their account had become compromised, according to the criminal complaint.
In total, from Feb. 28, 2023 through April 24, 2023, $19,238.06 had been deposited into the wrong account, police said.
Investigators determined that there were five bank accounts associated with the restaurant’s Uber Eats account, but only one of the accounts belonged to the owner. The most recent account was traced back to 30-year-old Muhammad Saleem and 29-year-old Maria Shamsi, both of Fairfax, Va., police said, adding the two most recent Uber Eats payouts had been deposited into a joint Wells Fargo account with Shamsi and Saleem as the owners of the account.
Further investigation revealed that Shamsi and Saleem allegedly received an additional 21 deposits from April 5, 2023 through April 17, 2023 via two other compromised merchant accounts through DoorDash, police said. The owners of those restaurants, located in Massachusetts and New Jersey, both told police their merchant accounts had been compromised in a similar fashion.
The criminal complaint does not indicate how the accounts became compromised, though all three owners reported the accounts became compromised after receiving new tablets for their merchant accounts. Both Uber Eats and DoorDashwere also victims of data breaches in 2022.
As a result of the investigation, Shamsi and Saleem were charged on Jan. 30 with felony counts of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, theft by deception, and receiving stolen property. Court records show the pair was arraigned on the charges on Feb. 8, and both were released on $1,000 unsecured bail.
Their next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on March 28 at 9:30 a.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge Suzan Leonard.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
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