A bill for an act relating to theft, forgery, and fraud involving a gift card, and providing penalties.

This bill creates new criminal penalties for gift card theft, forgery, and fraud in Iowa. It directly affects consumers who own gift cards, businesses that sell or issue them, and individuals committing fraud. Key provisions make it illegal to steal gift cards or their redemption information without consent (aggravated misdemeanor), alter gift cards (aggravated misdemeanor), or use stolen cards to obtain goods/services (with penalties ranging from serious misdemeanors to class C felonies based on the stolen value). Penalties are tiered by the amount stolen: under $500 is a serious misdemeanor, $500-$1,000 is an aggravated misdemeanor, $1,000-$5,000 is a class D felony, and over $5,000 is a class C felony. The law also allows aggregating stolen value from multiple transactions within six months for charging purposes.