Twelve men are behind bars — or on the run — after being charged in a brazen ATM skimming conspiracy that bled at least $428,581 from Bank of America accounts across New Jersey. At the center of the operation: Bogdan Viorel Rusu, a 36-year-old from Howard Beach, New York, accused of masterminding a high-tech theft ring that installed hidden card readers and pinhole cameras on PNC and Bank of America ATMs.
Between March 2015 and July 2016, the crew allegedly rigged ATMs with electronic skimming devices capable of harvesting victims’ card data and personal identification numbers. The stolen information was then encoded onto counterfeit debit cards, allowing the conspirators to drain accounts at multiple locations in rapid succession. One defendant used fake cards at four separate Bank of America ATMs in a single day in January 2016, law enforcement sources confirmed.
The indictment names Rusu alongside Marcel Peckham, a/k/a “Marcel Enescu Cismas,” 43, of Little Neck, New York; Catalin Mihai Dragomir, 32, of Glendale; Eduard Vasilica Ticu, 28, of Glendale; Stefan Dumitru, 28, of Astoria; an unidentified suspect known as “Zoltan Nagy,” 39, of Bayside, New York; Silvester Florentin Papp, 24, of Ridgewood; Joel Abel Garcia, 34, of the Bronx; Vasilica Adrian Hanganu, 35, of Bayside; Florian Calin Crainic, 46, of Des Plaines, Illinois; Gabriel Mares, 43, of College Point; and Florin Mares, 48, of College Point. All are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Law enforcement moved in yesterday and this morning, arresting all but one. Zoltan Nagy remains at large. Those captured — except Crainic — appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor in Newark federal court. Crainic was scheduled to face charges in Illinois. No bail conditions or trial dates were disclosed during the initial hearings.
The investigation was spearheaded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), under Special Agent in Charge Terence Opiola in Newark. The U.S. Secret Service’s Boston and New York field offices, along with police departments in East Longmeadow, Cambridge, and Medford, Massachusetts, provided critical support. Authorities also acknowledged assistance from the Middlesex County, Massachusetts, DA’s office, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Eastern New York and Western Massachusetts, and security teams from Bank of America, PNC Bank, and TD Bank.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Graves of the Newark Criminal Division and Trial Attorney Marianne Shelvey of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section. As of now, the charges remain allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law — but the evidence, prosecutors say, paints a clear picture of a coordinated, cold-blooded fraud operation that targeted unsuspecting bank customers for over a year.
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Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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