BOSTON, MA – Bogdan Viorel Rusu, 38, a Romanian national formerly of Queens, New York, will spend the next 65 months behind bars for orchestrating a sophisticated ATM skimming scheme that stretched across Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni handed down the sentence yesterday, along with a 60-month supervised release and a hefty order to pay $440,130 in restitution and forfeit the same amount.
Rusu pleaded guilty in September 2018 to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft. His arrest came on November 14, 2016, in New Jersey, and he’s been cooling his heels in custody ever since. The operation, running from roughly August 3, 2014, until his capture, involved a network of co-conspirators and a meticulously planned effort to steal financial data directly from unsuspecting bank customers.
The scheme was brutally simple, yet effective. Rusu and his crew installed nearly invisible “skimming” devices on ATMs, capturing crucial payment card account information as customers accessed their accounts. Alongside these devices, they planted pinhole cameras or keypad overlays to record customers’ PINs – the keys to unlocking the stolen funds. Once enough data was collected, the team would pull the devices and download the information, creating counterfeit cards to drain the compromised accounts.
The financial toll was significant. In Massachusetts alone, the scheme resulted in $364,419 in losses, with an additional $75,715 stolen in New York. New Jersey saw the largest hit, with a staggering $428,581 pilfered from 531 individual accounts, bringing the total stolen to $440,134. The group moved quickly, hitting ATMs with the counterfeit cards before banks or customers realized they’d been victimized.
The U.S. Secret Service’s Boston Field Division, along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Boston, led the investigation, receiving crucial assistance from the East Longmeadow and Medford Police Departments. The initial lead came from the fraud detection team at TD Bank Global Investigations in Springfield, Massachusetts, highlighting the importance of bank vigilance in combating these types of crimes.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of the District of Massachusetts and Trial Attorney Marianne Shelvey of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section secured the conviction. This case serves as a stark reminder of the ever-present threat of financial fraud and the dedication of law enforcement to bring perpetrators like Rusu to justice. The sentence should send a message: stealing from honest Americans won’t pay.
Related Federal Cases
- Bogdan Viorel Rusu, ATM Skimming, NJ 2023 · Massachusetts
- Bogdan Viorel Rusu, ATM Skimming Scheme, NJ 2024 · Pennsylvania
- Bogdan Rusu, ATM Skimming, New Jersey 2023 · Massachusetts
- Radu Bogdan Marin, ATM Skimming, NJ 2024 · Pennsylvania
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Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Press Release
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