Five Romanians Admit Bank Fraud Involving ATM Skimming Devices

ST. LOUIS – Five Romanian nationals have admitted installing skimming devices on St. Louis area ATMs to harvest bank account information from customers and commit fraud.

Mihai Vlaicu, 48, and Mihai Florin Marinescu, 37, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Courtin St. Louis to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Laurentiu Miguel Ivan, 33, pleaded guilty to the same charge in March and Nelu Nae, 37, and Venera Isabelle Dumitru, 28, pleaded guilty to the charge in April. A sixth person indicted in the case, Ianus Nita, 53, has not yet been arrested.

In their plea agreements, the five admit stealing bank account information via skimming devices and then using, or attempting to use, that information to withdraw money from ATMs.

Around January of 2024, Vlaicu and Marinescu installed skimming devices on at least two bank ATMs, one in Clayton and one in Frontenac. They obtained the information of at least six victims, and then used cloned cards to try and withdraw cash.

On five days in April, Dumitru and Ivan used account information from two other victims to withdraw cash from ATMs in St. Louis. Ivan obtained $1,421 and Dumitru obtained $1,070.50.

On April 25, Dumitru and Ivan tried to withdraw cash from a St. Louis County ATM using an account number belonging to another victim. On April 30, Vlaicu tried to withdraw money from a St. Louis County ATM using the banking information of six victims.

On May 2, Marinescu unsuccessfully tried to install a skimming device on an ATM in south St. Louis County. Nae retrieved the device the next day.

On May 9, Marinescu installed a skimming device on an ATM in Wildwood. On May 11, Nita withdrew cash belonging to two victims from a St. Louis County ATM.

On May 28, Marinescu and Nae installed a skimming device on an ATM in St. Louis, which was located and removed by law enforcement before Nita and Vlaicu could retrieve it.

The conspirators were using an Airbnb in St. Louis County as a base for their criminal activity. Investigators found a laptop computer there containing hundreds of videos of customers entering their PINs when they used an ATM outfitted with a skimming device. They also found skimming devices, installation tools, a large amount of cash and numerous gift cards at the rented residence.

Ivan is scheduled to be sentenced June 25, Dumitru on July 10, Nae on July 23 and Marinescu and Vlaicu on August 20. The charge carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both prison and a fine.

Ivan, Dumitru, Marinescu are not legally in the United States.

The FBI, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Webster Groves Police Department, the Clayton Police Department and the Frontenac Police Department investigated the case with assistance from the St. Louis County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwen Carroll is prosecuting the case.