Terrorists charged in Link fruad

Usama Bawazir
















                                                                                                        

     Jennifer M. Mahmood

An Evanston store manager and his girlfriend each face charges of fraud and possession of stolen property after authorities allege the pair accepted cash in exchange for illegitimate LINK card transactions.
Evanston police on Saturday announced charges against Willowbrook residents Usama Bawazir, 27, manager of A.J. Mini-Mart, 1901 Church St., and his girlfriend Jennifer M. Mahmood, 22, an employee at the mini-mart and adjacent A.J. Wireless store, 1700 Dodge Ave.
Both face one felony count of public aid wire fraud and three misdemeanor counts of possession of stolen property, police said.
In the later charge, Evanston police allege they recovered 16 electronic items suspected of being stolen. Several owners of those items have been identified, police said.
Evanston police and agents with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Secret Service executed a search warrant at 10 a.m. Thursday at both stores. Investigators confiscated records and various handheld electronic devices in the raid.
Both stores share the same phone number, according to online listings. Calls to that number went unanswered Monday morning.
Bawazir and Mahmood are expected to appear in court on May 22 in Skokie. Neither could be reached for comment.