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Press Release

Romanian National Sentenced to 65 Months in Federal Prison for Multi-State ATM Card Skimming Scheme

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts
Scheme caused over $868,000 in losses from over 530 individual accounts in three states

BOSTON - A Romanian national was sentenced today in federal court in Springfield in connection with a multi-state ATM card skimming scheme. 

Bogdan Viorel Rusu, 38, a Romanian national formerly residing in Queens, N.Y., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to 65 months in federal prison, five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture of $440,130. In September 2018, Rusu pleaded guilty to an Information that charged him with one count each of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Rusu was arrested on Nov. 14, 2016, and initially charged by complaint in the District of New Jersey and has been in custody since.

From approximately Aug. 3, 2014, until his arrest on Nov. 14, 2016, Rusu engaged in a widespread bank fraud conspiracy that targeted various banks in Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey. Rusu and his co-conspirators captured payment card account information from customers as they accessed their accounts through ATMs and then used that information to steal money from the customers’ bank accounts.

To capture the account information, Rusu and/or his co-conspirators installed electronic devices, i.e., skimming devices, which surreptitiously recorded customers’ bank account information on the banks’ card-readers at the vestibule door, the ATM machine, or both. In addition, Rusu and/or his co-conspirators installed other devices (generally either pinhole cameras or keypad overlays) in order to record the keystrokes of bank customers as they entered their personal identification numbers to access their bank accounts. After enough customers accessed the ATM machine, Rusu and/or his co-conspirators removed the skimming devices. They then transferred the illegally obtained information from the skimming devices and pinhole cameras to counterfeit payment cards. Finally, they visited other ATM machines with the counterfeit cards to obtain cash from the skimmed bank accounts before the bank or the customers became aware of their illicit conduct.

As a result of the scheme, $364,419 was lost in Massachusetts and $75,715 in New York (totaling $440,134 from 531 individual accounts), and another $428,581 was stolen in New Jersey.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Stephen Marks, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Boston Field Division; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; East Longmeadow Police Chief Jeffrey Dalessio; and Medford Police Chief Jack Buckley made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office and Trial Attorney Marianne Shelvey of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section prosecuted the case.

Updated January 8, 2021

Topic
Identity Theft