News

Romanian national sentenced for ATM skimming in Pennsylvania

August 23, 2011

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, a federal judge in Pittsburgh, Pa., sentenced a Romanian to one year and eight months in prison on Tuesday for stealing customer account information from PNC Bank ATMs in Western Pennsylvania.

Mihai Popa, 29, pleaded guilty in February to the conspiracy. His co-conspirator, Alexandru Razvan Serb, 39, pleaded guilty in December, 2010 to the same charge and was sentenced in May to one year and 11 months in prison.

The men used skimming equipment to read and store customers' debit and credit card information. PNC Bank ATMs were affected in the Fox Chapel, Norwin Hills, Willow Grove, Murrysville and Natrona Heights neighborhoods between November 2009 and April 2010. The estimated losses were between $200,000 and $400,000.

U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose also sentenced Popa to three years' probation and ordered him to pay $230,000 in restitution. Popa will be deported once he completes his prison sentence.

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