C.G.S. § 53a-128f — Unlawful Completion or Reproduction of a Payment Card (Class D Felony)

This statute targets “payment-card factory” activity. It criminalizes (1) possessing two or more incomplete payment cards or purported distinctive elements with the intent to finish them into usable cards without the issuer’s consent, and (2) possessing issuer-specific card elements or machinery/plates designed to make or reproduce payment cards, knowing what they are, without the issuer’s consent. “Payment card” includes both credit and debit cards.

Prosecutors usually proceed on one (or both) of these tracks:

• Track A — Incomplete Cards
  1. You were not the cardholder;
  2. you possessed two or more incomplete payment cards or a purported distinctive element; and
  3. you intended to complete them without the issuer’s consent.
• Track B — Distinctive Elements / Machinery
  1. You possessed a distinctive element of a payment card or machinery/plates/contrivances designed to produce or reproduce cards;
  2. you knew the character of the items; and
  3. you lacked the issuer’s consent.

• Payment card: credit or debit card.
• Distinctive element: issuer-unique material/component (e.g., hologram foils, laminates, substrates).
• Incomplete card: a card blank missing required issuer information that must be embossed/encoded/written before use.

A violation of § 53a-128f is punished under § 53a-128i(b) as a Class D felony (exposure up to 5 years’ imprisonment and up to a $5,000 fine; probation possible; restitution frequently sought).

• Card blanks (“PVCs”), issuer hologram foils, mag-stripe encoders, embossers, tipped dies, laminators.
• Forensic review of laptops/phones for BIN lists, templates, or chat orders.
• Surveillance and shipping records tying tools or foils to an address or storage unit.
• Statements made during “consensual” interviews (often avoidable with counsel present).

• “Two or more”: Track A needs at least two incomplete cards—one is not enough.
• Not a “payment card”: Generic PVC badges or store-loyalty cards aren’t payment cards.
• No issuer-unique element: Challenge whether foils/laminates are truly distinctive to a specific issuer.
• Knowledge / intent: Track B requires knowledge of the item’s character; Track A requires intent to complete. We attack the mental-state proof.
• Consent/authorization: Contract vendors and legitimate technicians with issuer permission fall outside the statute.
• Search & seizure: Car stops, hotel/storage searches, and warrant scope are frequent pressure points for suppression.

1. The hotel backpack
   Security finds a left-behind backpack. Inside are two plastic card blanks with bank logos and a small embosser tip. The guest says he was “just holding them.” Police charge him under Track A because there are two incomplete payment cards and signs he meant to finish them without the bank’s OK.
2. The “side hustle” kit
   Someone orders hologram foils and a mag-stripe encoder off a marketplace after watching a few YouTube videos. He keeps everything in a storage unit. When police search it, they find issuer-specific foils and the encoder. He knows exactly what the tools are for. That’s Track B: distinctive elements/machinery, no issuer consent.
3. Garage print shop
   Two friends set up a mini shop in a garage: one buys a plate set and downloads number lists; the other runs the laminator. Officers seize half-finished blanks and a sheet of card numbers. Prosecutors file both tracks and often add identity-theft counts tied to the numbers.
4. Not a § 53a-128f crime
   An office manager keeps a basic laminator and one blank PVC badge to make employee ID cards. There are no bank foils, no issuer-unique parts, and fewer than two incomplete payment cards. That fact pattern doesn’t meet § 53a-128f (though different facts could change the analysi

• § 53a-128c — Payment Card Theft / Illegal Transfer / Fraud / Forgery
• § 53a-128d — Illegal Use of a Payment Card
• §53a-128e — Illegal Furnishing of Money, Goods, or Services on a Payment Card
• § 53a-128g — Receipt of Money/Goods Obtained by Illegal Payment-Card Use
• §§ 53a-129a–129d — Identity Theft (degrees depend on loss amount and/or victim age)
• § 53a-139 — Forgery in the Second Degree

• Do not make statements or “explain” anything to detectives.
• Do not consent to searches of phones, laptops, storage units, or vehicles.
• Preserve receipts, shipping confirmations, and device serials; don’t delete messages.
• Call a defense lawyer immediately.

Charged or under investigation for § 53a-128f anywhere in Connecticut? Call Allan F. Friedman Criminal Lawyer at (203) 357-5555 for a fast, confidential consultation. I handle pre-arrest and post-arrest payment-card cases statewide. Early intervention lets us control surrender, protect your record, and challenge the evidence before it snowballs.