Grand Haven man pleads to stealing, selling mPerks login info

KENT COUNTY — A local man has pled guilty to conducting a criminal enterprise by stealing and selling login information for Meijer mPerks accounts, according to a report from WOOD TV-8.

Nicholas Mui, of Grand Haven, pled guilty Monday, July 15, in Kent County's 17th Circuit Court before Judge Mark Trusock. Mui faces up to 20 years in prison. He's scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 5.

As part of his plea deal, one count of using a computer to commit a crime and seven counts of identity theft were dismissed, according to WOOD TV-8. Andy LaPres, the case's defense attorney, said Mui took full responsibility for his actions.

“He’s been cooperative from the start. I don’t think (prosecutors) would've had any problem proving the case and he wanted to get his case over with,” LaPres said. “The offer was the top charge and, in exchange for that, they would dismiss the others. I think that would positively affect the criminal sentencing guidelines for him, so he was willing to take that plea.”

Mui admitted his crime to Trusock on Monday, according to WOOD TV-8. As part of the plea deal, Mui will turn over roughly $630,000 to the state and will cooperate with an ongoing investigation.

Mui was charged in December by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel after several Meijer customers reported missing mPerks points in their accounts. Mui was arrested in connection to “the systematic theft and sale of account access information," according to the AG’s Office.

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According to Nessel, Mui obtained login credentials from a separate data breach, unrelated to Meijer, then cross-referenced those credentials with the mPerks infrastructure. He sold those login credentials on the internet, and purchasers of the credentials used point balances to fund their own Meijer purchases.

Meijer was alerted to the thefts by consumers. A search warrant was executed in September, resulting in over $400,000 in cash and cryptocurrency seized.

Meijer reinstated the full previous balance of affected customers.

— Contact reporter Evan Sasiela at esasiela@sentinel-standard.com. Follow him on Twitter @SalsaEvan.