HARRISBURG, Pa. — An Allentown man used stolen credit cards to buy $100,000 in merchandise from Lowe's stores across Pennsylvania, the state attorney general's office said.
Alex Jose Rulan, 33, has been charged with corrupt organizations, organized retail theft, criminal conspiracy, identity theft and related offenses, according to a release from Attorney General Dave Sunday.
"This defendant systematically targeted consumers and stores across the Commonwealth to steal high-dollar goods."Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday
Rulan is in Montgomery County Jail on previous charges including forgery, identity theft, theft by deception and theft by unlawful taking, court dockets show.
Rulan is awaiting a preliminary hearing for those charges on Tuesday at 8 a.m.
Rulan has also faced similar charges in district court in Lehigh, Northampton, Beaver, Montgomery, Union, Cambria and Mifflin counties, according to court dockets.
"This defendant systematically targeted consumers and stores across the Commonwealth to steal high-dollar goods," Sunday said in the release.
"The diligent work of our Organized Retail Crime Unit has stopped another criminal enterprise from inflicting further harm on hard-working Pennsylvanians."
The release says Lowe's Companies reported Rulan was using stolen credit cards to buy flooring, air conditioning units, vacuums and other items.
From June to December 2023, Rulan bought $96,000 in goods from at least 23 Lowe's stores throughout the state, the release says.
"In some cases, Rulan used fraudulent identifications to pose as the person who owned the credit card," the release says.
The attorney general's office on March 18 file a criminal complaint in which Rulan faces 84 felony charges and 38 misdemeanor charges from an offense dated July 6, 2023.
The investigation continues and Rulan is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Philip M. McCarthy.
