Khachatur Zakaryan, ATM Skimming Fraud Scheme, Nevada 2023

Khachatur Zakaryan, a 37-year-old California man, will spend the next five years behind bars for his role in a massive ATM skimming fraud scheme that spanned the Las Vegas Valley. Zakaryan was sentenced to 60 months in prison, a three-year term of supervised release, and hit with fines and penalties that will likely leave him financially drained for years to come.

At the center of the scheme was Zakaryan's possession and use of over 500 fraudulent credit and debit cards. He and his unnamed coconspirators would encode these cards with stolen account numbers and account information, then use them to withdraw cash from ATMs across the Las Vegas Valley. The scam was sophisticated, with Zakaryan and his cohorts using multiple locations within a short period to avoid detection.

But it was not until February 2017 that Zakaryan's operation was finally brought to a halt. That's when law enforcement officers searched his van and hotel rooms, finding a staggering 521 fraudulent cards in his possession. At the time of his arrest, Zakaryan had an additional nine cards on him.

Zakaryan's troubles did not begin or end with this case. He was on probation in a state felony case for similar conduct involving counterfeit credit/debit cards at the time of his arrest. And in a separate incident, Zakaryan still faces pending charges for ATM skimming and fraud crimes in the state of North Carolina.

The case was investigated by the FBI's Las Vegas Cyber Crimes Task Force and the Henderson Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Burns prosecuted the case, bringing Zakaryan to justice for his role in the massive ATM skimming scheme.

Zakaryan's sentence serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of engaging in such egregious financial crimes. As the FBI and local law enforcement agencies continue to work together to combat cybercrime, cases like this one will only serve to strengthen their efforts and bring perpetrators to justice.

Defendant: Khachatur Zakaryan, 37-year-old California resident

Criminal Charges: Possession of 15 or more counterfeit or unauthorized access devices, producing, using, or trafficking in a counterfeit access device, aggravated identity theft

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

Date of Crime: February 2017

Sentence: 60 months in prison, three-year term of supervised release

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nv/pr/california-resident-sentenced-five-years-prison-atm-skimming-fraud-scheme