41°
George Dragusin, also known as “Georgio Anderini” and “Einstein,” 63, a citizen of Romania, pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to conspiracy and identity theft charges related to ATM skimming activities that defrauded banks from coast to coast.
U.S. Attorney John Durham said that between February and June in 2017, People's United Bank locations in Connecticut experienced 35 incidents of ATM skimming at their branches. The investigation into those incidents determined that Dragusin and others placed skimming devices at the ATMs to steal account numbers and PIN numbers from customers who used their ATM cards at the ATMs while the devices were in place.
Members of the conspiracy used the stolen information to make substitute ATM cards, and then obtained cash and made purchases using those cards.
In total, People’s United Bank lost approximately $286,069, Durham said.
As part of his guilty plea, Dragusin admitted that he installed and removed similar skimming equipment at several People’s United Bank locations, and used re-encoded cards and PINs to obtain money from several bank locations.
Dragusin further admitted that, between March and September last year, he participated in ATM skimming activity in Nevada, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana and California, causing banks to suffer total losses of more than $645,000. He was arrested in Hayward, California last year and has been detained since his arrest.
Durham said that Dragusin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. When he is sentenced on Friday, Nov. 15, he faces up to 30 years in prison.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Darien and receive free news updates.
