An alleged elaborate shoplifting scheme at Best Buy in Thousand Oaks led police detectives to what could be a major credit card manufacturing ring.

The investigation began when a security team at Best Buy, 390 N. Moorpark Road, suspected people were purchasing 22-inch TVs, leaving the store with them and giving the receipt to an accomplice. The accomplice would enter the store and use the receipt as proof of purchase to pick up a second identical TV.

Other electronics were also allegedly stolen in that fashion, with some of the items available for sale on Craigslist, according to Thousand Oaks detective Eric Bushow.

In August 2008 Detective Russell King was put on the case.

His investigation heated up when one of the Best Buy employees followed the men outside and got a license plate number from a vehicle allegedly used in the theft.

"Best Buy was getting hit at different stores, different times and was watching out for them," Buschow said.

The license plate number led to Aleksey Prokopyev, 27, of West Hollywood, the detective said.

Last week the Thousand Oaks Police, the Ventura County Sheriff's Department and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement served a search warrant on Prokopyev and found more than 1,000 counterfeit credit and gift cards, along with specialized equipment to manufacture credit cards and identification cards, Buschow said.

"The apartment was small, no elaborate decor," he said.

The equipment inside included a machine that could encode somebody's stolen credit card information on a blank card that could then be used to purchase merchandise, Buschow said.

West Hollywood residents Vytatutas Stoncius, 23, Eugeny Polyakov, 23, and Aleksey Kostilev, 20, were also arrested. Charges included criminal conspiracy and commercial burglary.

The four men are being held without bail in the Ventura County pretrial detention facility. All are allegedly in the U.S. illegally and are also being held on immigration violations. Two are from Russia; another is from Lithuania, and the fourth is from Uzbekistan, Buschow said.

The investigation is ongoing, he said.