U.S. prosecutors have indicted four men allegedly tied to a $1.5 million ATM-skimming scheme involving Citibank NA and JPMorgan Chase & Co. branch locations in Chicago, Miami and New York.
Federal authorities charged three Romanian men and one Austrian man with conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to an indictment prosecutors filed June 7.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York additionally charged Romanians Mihail Draghici and Ionel Dedulescu with bank fraud, and they could face a maximum of 70 years in prison. The other Romanian, Laurentiu Mugurel Manta, and Austrian Didi Theodor Ciulei face up to 62 years in prison if convicted.
“The indictment deals a significant blow to one alleged skimming ring,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. “Along with our partners at the Secret Service, we will continue to pursue and prosecute the perpetrators of these schemes.”
Ciulei and Manta were arrested May 29 in Chicago. Draghici and Dedulescu were arrested Dec. 2 at Miami International Airport. The men are awaiting trial in New York.
The four men allegedly withdrew funds from accounts maintained at Citi and Chase between March 2010 and May 2011. The men used several different types of skimming technology within the branches, according to the indictment.
The men entered the branches and allegedly installed modified card readers near the tellers. They used wireless technology to remotely retrieve information from the PIN pads.
The alleged fraudsters also compromised readers bank customers used to access ATM areas located in a bank branch during off-peak hours. The men also allegedly used PIN-pad overlays to capture details from ATMs located in these areas, according to the indictment.
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