Third Defendant Sentenced in Federal Court for Installing Skimmers throughout the Southern District of Mississippi

JACKSON, MS – Bogdan Gabriel Radu, 23, of Romania, was sentenced yesterday to 15 months in federal prison for possession of device-making equipment, also known as skimmers. His co-defendants, Alexandru Ionut Gheorghe and Marian Aurelian Neacsu, were sentenced on April 15, 2025, to 15 months in federal prison for the same crime. All three defendants are Romanian nationals who entered the United States illegally. 

According to court documents and statements made in court, beginning on June 21, 2024, the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office Cyber Crime Division began receiving reports from various agencies regarding the discovery of skimmer devices being located at various stores in central Mississippi. The Cyber Fraud Task Force began investigating leads that would determine the location of installed skimmers throughout the Southern District of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana.

Gheorghe, Neacsu, and Radu could be seen on surveillance video at various stores throughout the Southern District of Mississippi placing skimming devices on point-of-sale machines in June and July 2024. The skimmers were adhered using double-sided tape and were equipped with electronics that captured or recorded bank card magstripe track data and PIN numbers, stored the skimmed card data, were Bluetooth capable for remote connectivity, and were powered by lithium batteries. Gheorghe and Neacsu would install the skimmers while making a small purchase using a gift card. Radu was primarily responsible for retrieving the stolen data from the skimmers.

Included in the information skimmed or stolen by these defendants were SNAP benefits totaling over $85,000, for which the defendants will be required to pay restitution. SNAP provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budget. These stolen SNAP benefits were used in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and can be traced back to the skimming devices in Mississippi.

A criminal complaint was filed against Gheorghe and Neacsu on August 2, 2024. A federal grand jury returned an indictment against them on August 13, 2024. Thereafter, a superseding indictment was filed on November 6, 2024, adding Radu as a codefendant. As the defendants entered the United States illegally, they may be subject to deportation upon their release from prison.

Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Lemon of the Southern District of Mississippi, U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick Davis, and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch made the announcement.

The United States Secret Service and the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office investigated the case through their partnership in the Cyber Fraud Task Force with assistance from the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly T. Purdie and Samuel Goff prosecuted the case.