Romanian national pleads guilty to bank fraud crime related to ATM skimming

CINCINNATI – A Romanian national who was convicted in Michigan of illegally reentering the United States pleaded guilty in federal court in Cincinnati today to a federal crime related to ATM skimming.

According to court documents, Danut Valentin Urseiu, 32, conspired with others to commit bank fraud in the Southern District of Ohio in January and February 2023.

Urseiu’s plea agreement, which recommends a sentence of one year and one day in prison, details that he conspired with others to place skimming devices onto a financial institution’s ATMs in the greater Cincinnati area, including in Cincinnati, Green Township and Liberty Township.

Co-conspirators used the fraudulent access devices to steal information from cardholders and defraud financial institutions.

The financial institution reported that multiple ATM locations were victimized during the timeframe Urseiu and his co-conspirators were operating in the Southern District of Ohio.

Fingerprints on cameras placed with the skimming devices in Ohio matched Urseiu’s prints from arrests in New York in Michigan.

Urseiu’s cell phones contained photos of ATM skimming devices, recording devices and large amounts of cash.

The Court will determine Urseiu’s sentence at a future hearing.

Kelly A. Norris, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the guilty plea entered today before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Susan J. Dlott. Assistant United States Attorney Ryan A. Keefe is representing the United States in this case.

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