Two More Members Of Atm Skimming Conspiracy Targeting Multiple New Jersey Bank Locations Plead Guilty

NEWARK, N.J. – Two members of a scheme that used secret card-reading devices and pinhole cameras on PNC and Bank of America ATMs to steal at least $428,581 pleaded guilty today in Newark federal court.

Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick of the District of New Jersey; Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and Acting Special Agent in Charge Debra Parker of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) Newark Division made the announcement.

Stefan Dumitru, 29, of Queens, New York, and Florian Calin Crainic, 47, of Des Plaines, Illinois, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas to separate informations charging them each with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Dumitru, Crainic, and others sought to defraud financial institutions and their customers by illegally obtaining customer account information, including account numbers and personal identification numbers. Dumitru and Crainic both admitted that between March 2015 and July 2016, they made unauthorized cash withdrawals using the counterfeit ATM cards.

The conspiracy to commit bank fraud charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Sentencing for both defendents is set for Nov. 6, 2017.

Joel Abel Garcia, Victor A. Hanganu, Radu Bogdan Marin, Marcel Peckham, Catalin Mihai Dragomir, Eduard Vasilica Ticu, and Silvester Florentin Papp previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and await sentencing. To date, nine of the 13 defendants charged in this matter have been convicted.

ICE-HSI’s Newark Division; U.S. Secret Service’s Boston Field Office; Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Police Department; Cambridge, Massachusetts, Police Department; and Medford, Massachusetts, Police Department investigated the case with assistance from Bank of America Security and Fraud Section and PNC Bank Security Division. The Middlesex County, Massachusetts, District Attorney’s Office; U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York and U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Massachusetts Springfield Division assisted in the investigation and prosecution.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Graves of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark and Trial Attorney Marianne Shelvey of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division Organized Crime and Gang Section.

Defense counsel:

Dumitru: Roy Greenman Esq., Union, New Jersey

Crainic: Anthony Iacullo Esq., and Joshua Reinitz Esq., Nutley, New Jersey