Massive Credit Card Skimming, Fraud Scheme Spreads to Kennewick

Kennewick police have uncovered another arm of a massive credit card fraud and card skimming ring that stretches to Spokane, and then Florida.

Kennewick officials were tipped off to the scam when two men were reportedly using different credit cards to purchase gift cards at Target in Kennewick on October 18th.  The two men, Gilner Garcia and Yordano Bonachea, were using a card reported stolen by a victim.

After viewing them via store surveillance cameras, authorities also got a positive make and model on their vehicle. The two men were tracked their hotel room, and found they are part of a massive fraud scheme that was reported in Spokane as well.

The two men, along with other suspects, had installed card skimmers on automated gas pumps in the Spokane area.  They used them to steal identities and open credit cards in the victim's names. They are believed to have used other methods to commit identity theft as well.

The identities were then used to open credit cards, but the two used their own names. Officials who searched the men's hotel room found at least 60 cards with  Garcia's and Bonachea's name on them.  The cards were used to buy gift cards from stores and businesses. They were then sent or returned to Florida, where the men are from, and used for purchases - sometimes selling them for cash value to companies who buy gift cards.  Despite the men's name on the cards, the information contained on the magnetic strips of the cards was from the victims who's identity was stolen.

The value of the  gift cards purchased and found in their hotel room was in excess of $35,000.

The two men are Cuban refugees and other similar suspects were identified in the
Spokane area, but have fled. The Secret Service and other federal agencies are involved in the investigation. Garcia and Bonachea are facing multiple charges in the Benton County jail.