GREENWICH, Conn. A 41-year-old citizen of Turkey pleaded guilty to his role in an ATM skimming scheme that involved 250 accounts at banks in Greenwich and elsewhere across southern New England.
Mehmet Aydin, who last resided in Miller Place, N.Y., admitted one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft this week before Federal Judge Mark R. Kravitz in New Haven.
Aydin, along with Ahmet Cilek, Gabriella Grahams, and others, conspired to install skimming devices on ATMs at 11 banks and a credit union in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, according to court documents. The devices were able to capture information encoded on the magnetic strips of bank cards used by customers at the ATMs. Devices with hidden pinhole cameras were also placed on the ATMs to record PIN numbers for accounts.
The information was used to create counterfeit bank cards used by the conspirators to withdraw funds from the customers accounts. As a result of the scheme, financial institutions lost approximately $336,057.64.
Aydin will be sentenced July 5 and faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine on the conspiracy charge, as well as a consecutive two-year term on the identity theft charge. Aydin has been detained since his Nov. 2, 2011, arrest. Cilek and Graham have also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. The Greenwich Police Department aided in the investigation.
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