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Alyssa and Karan Geist, a mother-daughter pair from Long Island, appeared in court on Friday after being accused over several counts of credit card fraud.
According to prosecutors, 33-year-old Alyssa Geist and 66-year-old Karan Geist stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from banks. For years, Karan claimed that her shopping expenses were fraudelent in an attempt to steal from the banks.
She would allegedly spend the money on luxury goods, then file a complaint with the bank, claiming that she had not made the purchase.
During the hearing, Assistant District Attorney Catherine McCaw said:
“This is a 13-year scheme that involved thousands of credit card transactions whereby Karan falsely reported — even though she incurred legitimate charges — as fraudulent."
While Karan Geist is believed to have carried out the scheme for over 13 years, her daughter Alyssa is believed to have joined her 6 months ago.
The allegations against Karan Geist
As per news.au, Alyssa and Karan Geist are both former teachers, with Karan having lost her job at a middle school in 2016. Alyssa, who left her teaching job in New York in 2015, was running a tuition service at the time of her arrest.
According to the New York Post, authorities first got wind of the alleged scheme after Barclays Bank probed Alyssa and Karan Geist's complaints. The pair claimed that a purchase in a Chanel store had not been made by them.
However, after reviewing the surveillance footage at the store, the bank determined that the two had made a legitimate purchase and reported it to the authorities.
Prosecutors claim that the scheme did not end there. Even as they were under investigation, Alyssa is believed to have made another $1400 purchase in July 2017. Authorities also claimed to have found evidence that the pair would regularly discuss ways to fraudulently get their money back from banks.
In 2021, authorities raided Karan Geist's home, discovering over 100 credit cards and receipts from transactions she had reported as fraud. Prosecutors claimed that beyond luxury goods, the Geists would also dispute purchases ranging from travel to everyday groceries.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said in a statement:
“These purchases ranged in nature from the luxurious to the mundane."
In court, representatives of the District Attorney's Office said:
“On numerous occasions, Karan booked travel both for foreign and domestic to exotic destinations including Paris, Milan, Norway, Costa Rica, Hawaii and a number of other places."
It is believed that in total, the pair may have scammed banks out of over $850000.
James Pascarella, Alyssa Geist's lawyer, has insisted upon her innocence and said:
“My only comment [is] she is not guilty. She is completely innocent here and it will come out in the end."
The pair are expected back in court on September 14.
