Las Vegas man found hiding in closet had ID theft trove, police say
Police say a Las Vegas man with a history of fraud was recently found in possession of personal information for more than 200 people, along with technology used to create fake credit cards and checks.
An arrest report for Justin Gorgun, 37, of Las Vegas said on Jan. 27 a parole and probation officer doing a probation check on a resident at a home near South Hualapai Way and West Sunset Road found Gorgun hiding in a closet and possible forgery supplies spread out on the bed.
The officer alerted Las Vegas police, who obtained a search warrant.
On the bed in Gorgun’s room, Metropolitan Police Department officers found a “laptop, forged credit cards, an MSRX6 reader/writer, citizens’ personal profile personal information and a printer,” the report said.
They also discovered blank credit card stock, a card reader, a tablet, an embosser, blank check stock, sandpaper and a check cutter.
“The manual embosser combined with the sandpaper is used to erase numbers on plastic card stock/credit cards to create forged credit or debit cards in other individuals’ names,” it said.
Police said the technology could also be used to “change the information on the magnetic strip of any credit or debit card.”
Among papers found inside the room, police said, was what appeared to be a list from a local doctor’s office that included patients’ personal information. All told, personal information for more than 200 people was found in the room.
Gorgun was booked at the Clark County Detention Center on charges of establishing a financial forgery lab and obtaining the personal identification of more than five people. He is also being held on potential probation violations in two other criminal cases, according to jail records.
His arrest report states he was previously arrested in 2019 on similar charges, and court records show Gorgun was on probation for forgery and burglary. Court records show he’d been arrested eight times since 2018 on charges of burglary, theft, identity theft, financial forgery and drug possession. Five of those criminal cases were dismissed and Clark County prosecutors rejected the sixth, according to court records.
Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.
