Man, 19, Arrested in Phony Credit Card Case

Sheriff’s deputies with an organized crime unit arrested a 19-year-old man Thursday who allegedly made phony credit cards in a small suite in Hollywood.

Sheriff’s detectives seized bogus Visa, MasterCard and American Express cards, as well as $6,500 in cash at the home of Boris Khukhzuv.

In a Hollywood Boulevard office suite Khukhzuv had been renting for a month, detectives found a computer, scanner, magnetic encoder and about 400 counterfeit cards, said Sgt. Thomas Budds of the sheriff’s Asian Organized Crime Unit.

Detectives believe that Khukhzuv may have produced up to 1,000 credit cards in the past few weeks, including gold, corporate and platinum cards. About 600 have not been found and may be illegally in use, Budds said.

“When we arrested him, I asked him just one question: ‘What happened to the rest of the credit cards?’ ” Budds said. “He said, ‘What credit cards?’ ”

The Secret Service in San Diego is working to generate a complete audit of possible losses, Budds said. The agency will also try to identify illicit cards being used.

The organized crime unit was alerted to Khukhzuv about a month ago when Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies found suspicious credit cards during a traffic stop.

Shortly after, the Secret Service in San Diego became suspicious of a person fitting Khukhzuv’s description and using the name Boris who was possibly trying to recruit people to distribute the counterfeit cards.

The four-week investigation culminated in the arrest of Khukhzuv at his apartment on North Stanley Avenue.

The suspect was booked at the sheriff’s West Hollywood station, and was released after posting $50,000 in bail.

Budds said his unit is trying to find out whether Khukhzuv had accomplices. So far, Khukhzuv will be charged with manufacturing illegal credit cards, Budds said.