Two York City men are facing federal charges in a sprawling ATM skimming operation that drained accounts and compromised personal data across central Pennsylvania. Jeshua Paonessa-Velez, 25, and Luis E. Arochom, 39, were indicted on January 18, 2017, by a federal grand jury on a second superseding indictment charging them with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. The case, unsealed after Arochom’s arrest on January 20, 2017, reveals a calculated scheme to siphon money from multiple financial institutions using hidden electronic devices.
Arochom was arraigned before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson and ordered detained. Paonessa-Velez’s arraignment is tentatively scheduled for January 31, 2017. Both men are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The investigation traces back to a May 2015 superseding indictment that also named Arturo Meireles-Candel, 34, of York City. Meireles-Candel has since pleaded guilty in exchange for no further charges, admitting his role in installing skimming devices on ATMs at Adams County National Bank and Jersey Shore State Bank.
Those devices captured customer identification data, which the defendants used to load onto unauthorized access devices or to make direct cash withdrawals from victims’ accounts. The scheme netted unauthorized transactions from 16 bank customers, leading to sixteen counts of aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors allege the trio targeted unsuspecting customers, exploiting the trust people place in automated banking systems.
The second superseding indictment expands the scope of the operation, adding new instances of fraud and naming additional financial institutions hit by the ring. These include Member’s First Federal Credit Union in Hershey and Mechanicsburg, Santander Bank branches in Spring Grove and York, Centric Bank in Linglestown, Fulton Bank in Hershey, and Jonestown Bank and Trust in Lebanon. Investigators uncovered further fraudulent activity as the probe deepened, implicating Arochom as a new co-conspirator.
The investigation was a joint effort by the United States Secret Service, Southwestern Regional (York) Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, Derry Township Police Department, and Lower Paxton Police Department. Adams County National Bank and several retail outlets where stolen cards were used cooperated fully. The bank reimbursed all affected customers, limiting financial fallout but not erasing the breach of trust.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James T. Clancy is prosecuting the case. The maximum penalty for bank fraud under federal law is 30 years in prison, a term of supervised release, and a fine. Aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory 2-year sentence, to be served consecutively. The actual sentence, if convicted, will depend on federal sentencing guidelines and judicial discretion. This case underscores the growing sophistication of financial crime networks operating in plain sight.
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Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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