Joel Abel Garcia, ATM Skimming Conspiracy, New Jersey 2017

State: New Jersey
Category: Fraud &#038; Financial Crimes
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/member-atm-skimming-conspiracy-targeting-multiple-new-jersey-bank-locations-pleads-guil-0" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

A member of a scheme that used secret card-reading devices and pinhole cameras on PNC and Bank of America ATMs to steal at least $428,581 pleaded guilty today in Newark federal court.

Joel Abel Garcia, 35, a U.S. citizen from Bronx, New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Garcia is the third of 13 defendants charged in this matter to plead guilty. Victor A. Hanganu, 35, a Romanian citizen residing in Bayside, New York, pleaded guilty on April 10, 2017 to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Garcia, Hanganu, and others sought to defraud financial institutions and their customers by illegally obtaining customer account information, including account numbers and personal identification numbers. Garcia and Hanganu both admitted that between March 2015 and July 2016, they used counterfeit ATM cards and stolen customer information to withdraw cash from compromised bank accounts at ATMs in New Jersey. Hanganu also admitted that as part of the scheme, he installed ‘skimming’ devices on the ATMs, including pinhole cameras that recorded password entries and card-reading devices capable of recording customer information encoded on magnetic strips.

Garcia, Hanganu, and others used more than 10 ATM cards to conduct fraudulent cash withdrawals in New Jersey, causing losses of $428,581, $132,805 of which was personally attributable to Garcia.

The conspiracy to commit bank fraud charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Sentencing for Garcia is set for August 2, 2017.

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