Police say an Elmont man was arrested after he tried to buy thousands of dollars worth of gift cards using a fraudulent debit card, and was then found to have dozens more fraudulent cards.

Police say Michael Richards, 25, tried to purchase 18 gift cards worth $1,000 each, plus a pair of jeans at Bloomingdale's in Garden City. An investigation revealed that the Visa debit card he tried to use had been re-encoded with account information that belonged to a female victim who used another financial institution.

Officials say that a search revealed that Richards was in possession of five additional re-encoded credit and gift cards. Further investigation led to the recovery of over 130 more re-encoded cards.

Richards is being charged with identity theft, grand larceny and 18 counts of possesion of a forged instrument.