JetBlue Employees Allegedly Lived High on Stolen Credit

Three Jet Blue Airlines employees based at John F. Kennedy Airport have been arrested on charges of stealing credit cards from customers, the Manhattan district attorney's office announced yesterday.

Jet Blue customer service agents Alexander Yegoryan, Georgia Malamis, and Ricquevil Santana, allegedly robbed a number of credit cards from Jet Blue patrons between December, 2005, and April, 2007, the Manhattan district attorney's office said.

"Instead of providing assistance, these agents ripped off passengers," the district attorney for Manhattan, Robert Morgenthau, said in a statement.

The district attorney's office also charged that a Jet Blue flight attendant, Monique Robles, and an officer with the New York City Department of Correction, Jaqueline Miranda, allegedly used the stolen cards.

Investigators caught wind of the alleged scheme when a law school student notified his bank and the district attorney's office about $508.32 charged to a debit card he used to purchase a standby ticket at J.F.K airport, the office said.

The student, who was traveling to Boston, had inadvertently left the card at the Jet Blue customer service counter after paying a $25 fee to change his ticket; gas, dinner at a diner, alcohol, drug store goods, and an American Express gift card were charged to the card, the office said.

Throughout the 16-month period alleged in the complaint, the five defendants allegedly made unauthorized purchases at Bloomingdales, Target, Victoria's Secret, and Champs Sports; between $300 and $500 was charged to each card, the office said.

Messrs. Yegoryan, Malamis, Miranda, and Robles are awaiting arraignment where they will be charged with identity theft in the first degree and other crimes, the office said. Each first-degree charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

Mr. Santana will be arraigned on charges of second-degree identity theft, which carries a penalty of up to four years in jail, the office said.