BOGOTA, N.J. - It was a coincidence and maybe a stroke of luck when a New Jersey bank manager noticed by computer that someone was using an ATM card to withdraw from a customer's account that he was talking to, as reported in New Jersey's The Record.
The incident prompted 50-year-old Edward Bertotti of Bogota, N.J. to rush home and find his ATM card was missing. Soon after, he discovered that someone had used his card to make 48 withdrawals totaling $9,000 according to police in New Jersey. Bertotti's account was at the Provident Savings Bank in Teaneck, N.J.
"This guy (Bertotti) was very lucky the bank noticed this," said Jimmy Sepp, a Bogota police detective. "If he hadn't gone into the bank at that time, this would have continued, and we probably would have had a tougher time solving this."
Police arrested 24-year-old Anthony Rossi of Newark and charged him with the theft. According to police, Rossi stole the ATM card and envelope that contained Bertotti's password, while remodeling Bertotti's bathroom.
According to police, Rossi started using the card April 23 after entering Bertotti's home as a member of a construction crew.
"They were using it during their lunch breaks, then putting it back," Sepp said. "When they were done with the job, they decided to keep it."
Bertotti didn't notice his ATM card was missing, because he rarely uses it, Sepp said. More arrests may follow in this case, according to the detective.
