SEATTLE – A foreign national this week pleaded guilty to leading an ATM card skimming ring that stole more than $320,000 from BECU and several other area financial institutions.
Ismail Sali, 53, a Romanian citizen, is the third individual convicted in the scheme that planted tiny cameras at BECU and other area ATMs to record card information that was later used to produce counterfeit cards.
Sali agreed to pay $327,256 in restitution, and to forfeit $10,000 seized on his arrest, three vehicles, computer equipment used in the skimming scheme, and three firearms. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 15.
At least four others have been charged in the scheme and two of them, both Romanian nationals, have pleaded guilty. Authorities said the proceeds from the skimming were sent overseas to accomplices in Romania.
Investigators used surveillance videos taped at various BECU machines to identify two of the conspirators, Claudiu Tudor and Gvidiv Mateescu, installing card skimming machines at several BECU ATMs, then removing the skimmers at a later date.
In one video Mateescu was seen approaching a BECU ATM with a Wilson tennis racket case, from which he removed a skimming device and video camera and installed them at the machine. The video then shows Tudor approaching the machine.
The two men are believed to have skimmed cards at a Key Bank ATM in North Seattle, several Wells Fargo branches in Kirkland, and BECU storefronts in Renton, Puyallup and Woodinville.
