'Grinch Boys' accused of robbing clubgoers to finance shopping trips

Prosecutors in Manhattan on Tuesday announced charges against four people they say targeted drunk clubgoers, stole their credit cards and phones and used them to buy more than $400,000 worth of luxury goods.

They called themselves the Grinch Boys, prosecutors said — and called their activities “grinching.”

Two people identified by prosecutors as members of the group, Julian Pomales, 33, known as Juju, and Blerina Prelvukaj, 30, known as Winter, have been charged with various counts of grand theft, conspiracy and identity theft, among other crimes. Both pleaded not guilty.

In court, prosecutors accused them and two others who have not been arrested — Promise Shippy, 20, and Malcolm Scott, 32 — of working to identify and isolate victims in bars and clubs from October 2022 to August 2023. The defendants encouraged those The goal was to get even more drunk and, in some cases, to persuade them to leave the entertainment venues, prosecutors said.

After stealing the victims' credit cards and phones, prosecutors said, the ring made early morning trips to Apple stores and high-end retailers such as Amiri, Loewe and Christian Dior, many in the SoHo shopping district.

Joseph Pepe, a prosecutor, told the courtroom that the group called itself the Grinch Boys, or “grinchsters,” and noted that Mr. Pomales had purchased a large pendant necklace bearing the likeness of the character Dr. Seuss wearing his trusty Santa hat and posting a photo of it on social media.

The defendants sometimes charged tens of thousands of dollars for iPhones and MacBooks, Mr. Pepe said. During a visit to the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan – which is open 24 hours a day – they spent $150,000 in three hours.

After purchasing the goods, they sold them for cash, arranging at least one purchase with an individual identified by prosecutors only as Bumpman.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg said Tuesday that his office was working with retailers to ensure they appropriately deter “large-scale, unauthorized late-night purchases.”

“As phone thefts continue to generate higher payouts, we also urge New Yorkers to take precautions,” Mr. Bragg warned. “Never give your phone to a stranger.”

Mr Pepe said in court that Mr Pomales was the leader of the group and that his job was to identify targets he suspected of having credit cards with generous lines of credit.

Mr. Pomales and Mr. Scott regularly posted photos of themselves on social media with new Apple products, full shopping bags at Apple locations and cash, Mr. Pepe said. At one point, Mr. Pomales filmed a video clip in which he wore some of the luxury items that prosecutors say he bought with stolen credit cards, as well as the Grinch necklace, which they called “his signature Juju pendant.”

After Tuesday's procedure was completed, Mr. Pomales, wearing a stained sweatshirt, and Ms. Prelvukaj, in a heavy winter coat with a fur-lined hood, whispered to each other. Mr. Pomales is being held in jail on an unrelated weapons charge; Ms Prelvukaj was released as the charges against her are ineligible for bail.

Their attorneys, Ralph Cherchian and James M. Phillips, declined to comment.

The scheme described by prosecutors mirrored other schemes in which people going out in Manhattan are targeted by people looking to take advantage of their drunkenness. But other events that have terrified city residents in recent years have involved accusations of murder and other violent crimes.

In 2022, a series of drug busts at gay bars in Manhattan killed at least two people, spreading fear through the city's nightlife. Five men were charged by the district attorney's office in that scheme.

And a man named Kenwood Allen was accused in June of killing five people, targeting revelers coming out of bars on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Mr Allen was charged with 10 counts of manslaughter and 17 counts of theft and attempted theft. He pleaded not guilty and his case is pending.