14 DAY TRIAL // A Romanian national has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud resulting from his participation in a criminal operation that involved installing skimming devices on ATMs.
Alexandru Razvan Serb, 39, was indicted back in May on charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and access device fraud, along with another Romanian co-conspirator named Mihai Popa, 27, who hasn’t yet entered a guilty plea.
The prosecutors alleged that between November 2009 and April 2010, the two men rigged PNC Bank ATMs in Fox Chapel, Norwin Hills, Willow Grove, Murrysville, Natrona Heights and other places, with the purpose of stealing credit card magnetic stripe data and PIN numbers.
According to the Pittsburg Post-Gazette, Serb was arrested while in the process of retrofitting a skimmer on an ATM in Shaler. Police found electronic equipment and computers linked to the operation in his motel room.
The fraudster pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge last Thursday in Western Pennsylvania District Court in front of Judge Donetta W. Ambrose.
Serb has remained in custody since his arrest in May and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 7 next year. He faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and deportation.
The sentence will be influenced by his criminal history and the serious of the offense. Prosecutors estimated intended losses of between $200,000 and $400,000.
The United States Secret Service and the Western Pennsylvania Financial Crimes Task Force collaborated in investigating this case.
Serb is not the first Romanian to be convicted for ATM skimming in the United States. Back in November 2008, a 23-year-old Romanian citizen named Victor Vasile Constantin, pleaded guilty in Connecticut to charges related to similar ATM fraud.
In May this year, Romanian authorities raided 40 locations around the country and dismantled a major criminal network responsible for manufacturing, selling and using ATM skimmers.