GLENDALE : 5 Charged in Gas Credit Card Scam

Five men have been charged in connection with an alleged credit card fraud ring involved in the theft of thousands of gallons of gasoline from service stations countywide, officials said Monday.

Local police and state and federal agencies broke up the ring July 1 after serving nine search warrants in Los Angeles and Glendale. Seized were more than 200 fake and stolen credit cards, firearms and trucks believed to have been used to carry the gasoline to L&M; Gas, 8579 San Fernando Road, officials said.

The five suspects were ordered last Friday to return Aug. 6 to enter a plea at Glendale Municipal Court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Greg Denton said. They face charges ranging from computer fraud to grand theft to receiving stolen property to forgery of a credit card.

If convicted, they could be sentenced to up to six to eight years in state prison, Denton said. Each remains free on a $10,000 bond, but prosecutors will ask a judge next Friday to raise bail to $250,000 each.

No charges were filed against four others and a 15-year-old girl who were also arrested.

Investigators believe that the ring obtained real credit card numbers through customers using the Sun Valley gas station and other contacts. A computer helped encode those numbers onto blank credit cards, which were then used to pay for gas at pumps equipped with the automatic credit card feature.

Suspects drove trucks to various gas stations as far south as Los Angeles International Airport, buying an average of 200 gallons of gas and bringing it back to be resold at the Sun Valley station, police said.

Those charged were North Hollywood residents Mike Zadikian, 22, Grigor Djaladian, 36, and Mkrtich Djaladian, 34; and Glendale residents Lev Iophe, 26, and Levon Djaladian, 23. Levon Djaladian was the one who had been leasing the gas station.