Robert Mate, ATM Skimming, NJ 2023

Robert Mate, a 31-year-old Romanian national, has been slammed with a 57-month federal prison sentence for his central role in one of the largest ATM skimming operations ever uncovered in the U.S. Arrested overseas and extradited from Spain, Mate admitted to installing hidden card readers and pinhole cameras on ATMs across New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Florida, stealing sensitive banking data from thousands of unsuspecting customers.

Mate, also known as ‘Chioru’ and ‘Marcel Varga,’ pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini in Newark. Court documents reveal he operated as a high-level participant in a transnational fraud ring orchestrated by fellow Romanian national Marius Vintila, 34. The crew deployed custom-built skimming devices capable of harvesting card numbers and PINs during routine withdrawals, targeting machines from Citibank, TD Bank, Wells Fargo, and other major institutions.

Vintila and Bogdan Radu, 34, engineered the sophisticated hardware used in the scheme—slim card readers and nearly invisible camera panels that blend into ATM fascias. Mate and other operatives covertly attached the devices, left them active for days to harvest data, then retrieved them before banks could detect the tampering. The stolen information was then encoded onto cloned cards used to drain accounts across the country.

The operation raked in at least $5 million in illicit withdrawals, with the final restitution ordered against Mate totaling $7,397,270. The Secret Service and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) called it one of the most extensive ATM skimming rings ever dismantled. To date, 15 of the 16 individuals charged have been convicted, including Vintila and Radu. Only Ionut Vasile Ciurba-Stana, a/k/a ‘Ciorba,’ 30, remains at large.

In addition to prison, Judge Martini sentenced Mate to five years of supervised release and full financial restitution. U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman credited the investigation to the relentless work of U.S. Secret Service agents in Newark, led by SAC Mark McKevitt, and HSI agents under SAC Terence S. Opiola. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rahul Agarwal and David M. Eskew.

Defense was provided by Angelo Servidio, Esq., of Nutley, New Jersey. Despite arguments for leniency, the court emphasized the brazen, organized nature of the crime. Mate’s conviction underscores the growing threat of transnational financial fraud and the federal crackdown on high-tech bank theft networks operating on American soil.