Police: Kennewick fraud suspects part of elaborate scheme

When police entered Room 103 at the Kennewick Fairfield Inn last month, they quickly realized their investigation was much bigger than a simple fraud case.

More than 60 fake credit cards were in the room. Several large stacks of prepaid gift cards totaling more than $35,000 were wrapped in plastic and hidden behind a refrigerator.

Merchandise and receipts from several stores — Target, T.J. Maxx, Bed Bath & Beyond — were scattered around.

Ledgers with store names, dollar amounts and four-digit credit card codes also were found. Airline receipts and an itinerary showed the two men who rented the room had traveled to several cities before coming to Kennewick.

Police say the evidence ties the men to an elaborate regional scheme where victims’ credit card numbers were cleverly stolen from gas pumps in the Spokane area. Reports say there are potentially hundreds of victims.

The men were identified as Yordano Bonachea, 25, and Gilner E. Garcia, 27, Cuban immigrants from Miami. They denied knowing anything about the fake credit cards or other evidence, and claimed they came to Washington to smoke marijuana because it is legal.

Since their Oct. 18 arrest, the men have been charged with several felonies related to the search.

Bonachea is charged in Benton County Superior Court with nine counts of second-degree identity theft and is in jail on $80,000 bail. Garcia has been charged with at least six counts of second-degree identity theft and is out of custody.

Police were initially called to the Kennewick Target on Oct. 18 after a Medical Lake woman reported her debit card, which she had in her possession, was being used at the store, court documents said.

Investigators reviewed surveillance footage, which showed two men attempting to use multiple cards to make purchases. Cards that weren’t declined were used to buy prepaid gift cards.

The suspects were spotted leaving in a black Kia Soul, and police started to search Kennewick for the car. It was eventually found outside the Fairfield Inn.

Police showed a desk clerk photos of the suspects from Target. The employee recognized them as the men staying in Room 103.

Bonachea and Garcia answered the door and apparently invited officers inside to show identification.

“While inside the room, (an officer) observed new merchandise from various stores lying around the room,” court documents said. “Some of the merchandise had been opened, to include a Disney Elsa doll, which was an item purchased by the suspects at the Target store.’’

After police arrested the men, a lengthy investigation began to determine the scope of the scheme and to identify victims.

Police contacted the U.S. Secret Service and learned that other Cuban immigrants from Florida were suspects in a similar fraud case in Spokane and Idaho.

The suspects, who are believed to have fled back to Florida, were identified after they tried to use credit cards to buy gift cards at a Walmart in Post Falls, Idaho.

Police determined that suspects broke into gas pumps at an Exxon station near Interstate 90, according to the Spokesman-Review newspaper. They installed a skimming device, which collects card data when customers pay for gas. The data can then be downloaded.

“Basically, day and night it’s saving card numbers as you’re getting gas,” Neil Uhrig, a Post Falls detective, said.

The Spokesman-Review detailed the scheme in a Nov. 15 article.

The suspects encoded the stolen numbers onto blank gift cards, then used the blank cards to buy other prepaid gift cards, the article said. Once the gift cards had money on them, they could be used to purchase merchandise, which could be resold online or exchanged for cash.

Police seized 99 inactive Visa gift cards and more than 30 active cards from the suspects before they vanished, the Spokesman-Review reported.

Authorities are working to try to identify all the victims whose card data was stolen.

Police say card numbers from at least one card found during the search of the Kennewick hotel were stolen from the gas pumps.

This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 8:52 PM with the headline "Police: Kennewick fraud suspects part of elaborate scheme."