A man has pleaded guilty to a widespread ATM skimming fraud scheme targeting Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) that resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.
Aurel Eremia, 43, and several other conspirators engaged in the effort to install portable card reading devices (skimming devices) and micro camera equipment inside and over the mouth of NFCU ATMs card readers and keypads from 2014 to 2015, according to court documents.
Eremia and the conspirators used these devices to record and acquire, without lawful authorization, the personal identification and financial information of NFCU customers.
The conspirators stored and transferred by electronic means the personal identification and financial information fraudulently obtained. They then transferred and used the information to gain unauthorized access to bank and credit accounts belonging to NFCU customers by, among other things, re-encoding account numbers onto the magnetic strips of other cards, including gift cards.
The re-encoded cards, in combination with the corresponding PINs, were used to make unauthorized withdrawals and transfers from the compromised NFCU accounts, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere.
Eremia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. He faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison on the conspiracy charge, and a mandatory consecutive term of 2 years in prison on the aggravated identity theft charge.
Aurel Eremia is scheduled to be sentenced on March 4, 2021. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Eastern District of Virginia U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the plea, with G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, and Jerald W. Page, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Richmond Field Office, making the announcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Samuels and Kaitlin Cooke are prosecuting the case. A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
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Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Category: Cybercrime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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