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For five years, the thieves cut deals online for the purported sale of specialized equipment, including airline ground support parts and hydraulic jacks, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.
As soon as the payments arrived, members of the crew either made a bunch of cash withdrawals or slid the money into a Somerset County accomplice's account, Platkin said.
The buyers got bupkis, he said.
Police in Scottsdale, AZ alerted New Jersey authorities to the operation, involving multiple members of the same family.
All were arrested following an investigation by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice's Financial and Cyber Crimes Bureau.
The top dog identified by prosecutors, Antonio P. "Tony Demetro" Signo, 35, of Somerset, was ordered held on charges of conspiracy, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and money laundering.
Sonny Signo, 54, of Elizabeth, Eddie Signo, 28, and Champagne Thompson, 29, both of Iselin were all released after being charged with conspiracy and receiving stolen property.
Co-defendant Cindy K. Drake, 36, of Somerset, was charged on a complaint-summons for second-degree receiving stolen property.
State authorities worked with the federal Department of Homeland Security Investigations-Newark Field Office, Platkin said.
Deputy Attorney General Derek Miller of the state Division of Criminal Justice Financial and Cyber Crimes Bureau is the lead prosecutor, he said.
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