2 men accused of stealing over 176 gift cards as part of $15,000 fraud scheme

Gift cards are a popular choice for many, but they can also be a target for fraud. Two men are now behind bars after the Naples Police Department said they participated in a larger scheme involving these cards.

On Wednesday, a detective from the NPD observed two men acting suspiciously at a Walgreens.

They were later identified as Kirils Gula, 36, and Maksims Slapins, 26.

The two were seen near the gift card rack, seemingly trying to conceal something.

After leaving the store, NPD said they drove to a nearby Publix, where they parked in a low-visibility parking spot before entering and exiting without making any purchases.

The detective followed them as they went to another Walgreens, where they again entered and exited the store without buying anything.

The detective noted that the vehicle’s tag had expired and conducted a traffic stop.

When Gula was asked for identification, he initially claimed not to have any, stating he had been in the United States for 30 days and hadn’t yet obtained a driver’s license. However, it was later determined that he had been in the U.S. for four months.

Gula provided a Latvian passport, and the detective asked permission to search the vehicle, which Gula consented to.

During the search, the detective discovered multiple gift cards in the center console and receipts showing they were purchased with other debit cards.

A cooler bag containing 176 gift cards, valued at approximately $15,000, was also found in the vehicle. Each gift card was labeled with an address indicating where it had been stolen from.

Gula was arrested for driving without a license, and Slapins was detained.

Gula and Slapins later confessed to their involvement in a larger fraud scheme.

Gula explained that he had been instructed to steal gift cards from stores all over Florida, from Miami to Tampa and even Jacksonville.

The stolen cards were to be used in a scheme where fraudulent barcodes would be placed on them. The cards would then be returned to the stores they were initially stolen from and placed on the racks.

Once purchased, the thieves would use the 16-digit numbers and fraudulent barcodes to quickly drain the funds.

“We’re certainly not new to fraud and fraudsters attempting to take advantage of people in our area,” Lieutenant Bryan McGinn, the PIO of NPD.

If or when unsuspecting customers purchased and activated the tampered cards, the funds for the gift card would be redirected to the crime syndicate’s bank account instead.

When asked how to protect oneself, Naples Police advised checking for signs of tampering with the packaging.

“The biggest way here to thwart these kinds of efforts is just checking for any signs of tampering with the packaging,” Lieutenant McGinn said. “There’s peel stickers, scratch stickers. There’s packaging that has to be manipulated in some way in order for either to get the card out and, you know, keep those numbers, or to switch out a card in some way, shape, or form, put a fraudulent card in there.”

The two were arrested and charged with scheme to defraud and conspiracy to commit fraud, with Gula facing an additional charge for driving without a license.