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Ioan Leusca, 30, also known as “Ionel Spinu,” and 29-year-old Dezso Gyapias, also known as “Valentin Folea,” admitted that they worked with others to install the skimmers and pinhole cameras at the Citibank branch on Engle Street in Englewood and elsewhere.
The electronic devices collect identity and account information from the ATM card’s magnetic strip, while the pinhole camera secretly records customers’ keystrokes as they enter their PINs.
Citibank ultimately reversed the unauthorized withdrawals from its customers’ accounts, assuming a total loss of roughly $985,000, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said.
Leusca and Gyapias were arrested during a larger investigation into a skimming scheme that targeted customers in the tri-state area in 2012 and early 2013, costing banks more than $5 million in losses, Fishman said.
Eight others have been charged – all Romanian nationals, as well – and remain in custody, federal authorities said. They include the accused masterminds of the scheme, 31-year-old Marius Vintila and Bodan Radu, 30, who were arrested in July.
Another man, known only as “Chioru,” remained at large today, authorities said.
“Vintila and Radu designed and created the actual skimming devices and pinhole cameras and recruited individuals, including Leusca and Gyapias, to install them on bank ATMs,” Fishman said.
Vintila, who was captured in Sweden and awaits extradition to the U.S., used an alias to rent a host of self-storage units where he stored the equipment, which included super glue, tape, SD cards, batteries, computers, molds, fraudulent ATM cards, and cash proceeds, the U.S. Attorney said.
Radu, meanwhile, taught members of the crew how to install the skimming devices, Fishman said. Radu also used an alias to move skimming devices and cash proceeds overseas, he added.
Crew members “used hats, jackets, scarves and sunglasses to disguise themselves while installing the devices and while using the cards to withdraw money,” Fishman said.
Leusca and Gyapias have been held without bail since their Jan. 13 arrests. Each pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Fishman praised special agents of the U.S. Secret Service’s Newark Field Office, along with special agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Newark.
Handling the case for the government are Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rahul Agarwal and David Eskew of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
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