News

3 men indicted in NY ATM skimming case

December 2, 2003

NEW YORK - In a scam similar to a high-profile 2002 ATM fraud case that has been widely reported in media outlets ranging from the New York Times to "Dateline NBC, " customers who recently used their ATM cards at an East Side deli lost more than $200,000 in one day to thieves who had rigged the machine with a skimming device.

(See related story Skim scam man)

According to a New York Post report, four men stole money from the accounts of 300 people  at the deli. Three of the men were indicted in Manhattan Supreme Court on Dec. 2.

The deli's owners apparently believed they were having a legitimate machine installed.

The crooks obtained account information from the deli ATM, used it to create fake cards and withdrew some $225,000 on Nov. 2, from JPMorgan Chase and Citibank ATMs at more than 20 banks on the Upper East Side and in lower Manhattan.

One apparent victim, Carlos Arrecis, 21, of Queens, said he noticed $1,000 had been withdrawn from his account. Arrecis, who works at a gym near the deli, often used the ATM there.

The banks will reimburse Arrecis and others ripped off in the scam, said the Manhattan district attorney's investigation chief, Daniel Castleman.

Police officers from Brooklyn arrested two of the defendants after observing them repeatedly swiping cards and obtaining cash from ATMs at a Citibank branch.

One defendant, Nedzad Korac, 31, a green card-carrying Albanian citizen from White Plains, had 69 cards and $14,420 cash on him. Korac, who has state and federal forgery and credit-card fraud convictions going back 10 years, is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail.

A second defendant, Korac's uncle, Selin Hakanjian, 41, of The Bronx, was caught with two cards and $5,432 on him. Another 218 cards were recovered from the pair's car, according to the Postreport.

Hakanjian, who has convictions for petty larceny and attempted grand larceny, is free on $100,000 bail posted by relatives.

The third suspect, Robert Miraglia, 39, of Staten Island, served more than a year prison for possession of stolen property in 1997.

Prosecutors say it was Miraglia who posed as a legitimate ATM vendor to the owners of the deli. The owners eventually asked Miraglia to remove the machine after he failed to keep it stocked with cash and failed to pay the owners the agreed-upon fees.

Miraglia is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail.

All three men pleaded not guilty.

Another man who was swiping cards with the uncle and nephew is a fugitive after fleeing the scene, cops said. The equipment used has not been recovered.

In announcing the indictments, the DA warned that ATMs at the corner grocery store can be risky. "It's certainly safer to use [ATMs] in a legitimate bank," said Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau, noting that his office and Brooklyn prosecutors are continuing to investigate more ATM scams.