14 DAY TRIAL // 32-year-old Leonid Rotaru from Romania was apprehended by British authorities just as he was removing a card reader from an ATM. After raiding his home, police found the details of 9,000 credit cards that could have been utilized to steal £3.2 million ($5.1 million or 3.9 million EUR).
Based on the equipment he used and the large amount of information found on the man’s computer, police believe that Rotaru is part of a well-organized criminal ring, the Daily Mail reports.
Law enforcement authorities were called in to inspect an ATM at a Tesco store in Somerset, which customers reported as being suspicious. Luckily for them, that was the exact moment when Rotaru returned to remove the skimming device, so they arrested him.
According to the details provided by the investigators, there’s nothing out of the ordinary about the skimming device, except for the fact that it was of higher quality. It came with a pinhole camera designed to record the ATM’s keypad as customers entered their PINs.
Rotaru pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud and possession of skimming devices.