Romanian National Pleads Guilty In $868,000 ATM Theft Scheme - US Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2018) A Romanian national pleaded guilty in a US Federal court to charges in connection to a multi-state ATM card scheme in which he stole more than $868,000 from more than 530 accounts, the US Department of Justice said in a press release.

"A Romanian man pleaded guilty today in US District Court in Springfield, Massachusetts to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft in connection with a multi-state card skimming scheme," the release said on Tuesday.

Bogdan Viorel Rusu, 38, formerly residing in Queens, New York, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit bank, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, the release said.

Rusu and his co-conspirators stole $440,134 from 531 individual accounts in the US states of Massachusetts and New York, while in the state of New Jersey they stole $428,581.

They transferred illegally obtained information from skimming devices and pinhole cameras to counterfeit payment cards at ATM machines and then visited other ATM machines with the counterfeit cards to obtain cash.

The Justice US District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni has scheduled Rusu's sentencing for December 11, the release said.