STRATEGIC PARTNERS
June 4, 2019
A Romanian national will serve up to 65 months in prison in connection with a multi-state ATM card skimming scheme, according to a press release from the U.S. Justice Department.
In September 2018, Bogdan Viorel Rusu, 38, a Romanian national formerly residing in Queens, New York, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Rusu was arrested on Nov. 14, 2016, and initially charged in New Jersey and has been in custody since.
According to Rusu's plea agreement, from approximately Aug. 3, 2014, until his arrest on Nov. 14, 2016, he engaged in a widespread bank fraud conspiracy that targeted various banks in Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey. Rusu and his co-conspirators captured payment card account information from customers as they accessed their accounts through ATMs and then used that information to steal money from the customers' bank accounts.
To capture the account information, Rusu and his co-conspirators installed electronic devices, i.e., skimming devices, which recorded customers' bank account information on the banks' card-readers at the vestibule door, the ATM machine or both. In addition, they installed other devices (generally either pinhole cameras or keypad overlays) in order to record the keystrokes of bank customers as they entered their personal identification numbers to access their bank accounts.
After enough customers accessed the ATM machine, Rusu removed the skimming devices and transferred the illegally obtained information from the skimming devices and pinhole cameras to counterfeit payment cards. Finally, they visited other ATM machines with the counterfeit cards to obtain cash from the skimmed bank accounts before the bank or the customers became aware of their illicit conduct.
As a result of the scheme, $364,419 was lost in Massachusetts and $75,715 in New York (totaling $440,134 from 531 individual accounts), and another $428,581 was stolen in New Jersey.
U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni for the District of Massachusetts ordered Rusu to pay restitution in the amount of $440,130 and forfeit the same amount. After he serves his 65-month prison sentence, he will spend another 60 months under supervised release.
