Secret Service Says Man Part of ATM Skimming Ring

NEW YORK, N.Y. - The U.S. Attorney's Office and Secret Service say a Romanian citizen participated in an ATM skimming fraud ring that stole $1.5 million from HSBC bank customers throughout Westchester, Manhattan and Long Island.

Laurentiu Iulian Bulat has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of bank fraud. Bulat has been detained following an appearance in federal court.

“ATM skimming continues to affect individuals and financial institutions in the New York metropolitan area and around the country,” U.S. Secret Service Agent-in-Charge Brian G. Parr said. “The Secret Service remains committed to investigating criminal enterprises involved in this type of fraud. We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement and private sector partners to thwart this criminal activity and bring these perpetrators to justice.”

Secret Service arrested Bulat on Thursday after an HSBC branch observed him installing a skimming device on two ATMs at their Manhattan branch. The bank notified Secret Service, who confirmed that skimming devices had been installed on the ATMs and set up surveillance. Secret Service arrested Bulat after he returned to those ATMs later that day.

The Secret Service agent who arrested Bulat showed him surveillance from different HSBC banks on different days, according to the complaint filed in federal court. Bulat acknowledged that he was the individual in the surveillance photos, but “he was just using the ATM machines as a customer.”

Bulat was found with a flat-head screwdriver in his possession, which officials say is used to install and remove skimming devices.

Bulat has been in the country illegally after overstaying a visa. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison.

Officials say Bulat and others used fake card readers and hidden cameras to steal customer's bank information. The card readers would pull in account-related information from a bank card's magnetic strip. Cameras would be used to record customers entering their personal identification numbers. The skimmers would typically be removed after 24 to 48 hours.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara described ATM skimmers as “high-tech bank robbers,” saying the skimming often happens completely undetected.

“Our investigations in this case specifically, and in ATM skimming cases generally, remain very much ongoing,” Bharara said.

Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney's Office has been investigating an ATM skimming ring targeting HSBC branches since May 2011.

Bulat's arrest follows a November arrest of five people in Westchester County for ATM skimming. Officials did not know if the two were connected in any way.

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