Theodore Labuza suspected of masterminding scam to rip off U of M bookstore

The suspects in the scam - allegedly masterminded by a 22-year-old named Theodore Labuza - registered at the university's College of Continuing Education to get their hands on U Cards, the school's resident credit card/student identification, according to the Minnesota Daily. The College of Continuing Education has a much simpler admissions process than the rest of the school, making it an easy in for the suspects.

But the newly admitted students never went to class. Instead, they went on shopping sprees at the bookstore, snatching up high-price inventory like Macbook Pro laptops. The average price of a purchase was around $4,000.

Randy Jacoboski, a suspect in the campus crime syndicate, was promised admission to the University in exchange for his participation, KSTP reports:

Jacoboski, who spent 36 hours in jail for this incident, said he was buying books and laptops with his fraudulent U-card and selling them for cash. His reward, Jacobski was told, would result in organizers hacking University computers and getting him accepted as a student.

Ryan Mathre, spokesman for the University, says the school won't comment on the ongoing investigation.

Here's a statement prepared by the University:

We've taken the necessary steps to stop this and there is nothing to indicate this is anything more than an isolated incident. However, we will be fully reviewing all of the security protocols in place with regards to the issuance of UCards to see if there are places for improvements.