Paul N. Batinas, Bank and Wire Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft, Virginia 2015

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Paul N. Batinas, a 31-year-old Romanian national, has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

According to a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Batinas and his co-conspirators installed skimming devices and cameras on Navy Federal Credit Union ATMs throughout the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere from June 2014 to September 2015.

The skimming devices captured debit and credit card account numbers and PIN access codes of unsuspecting victims, which they later used to make unauthorized withdrawals from the compromised accounts.

Batinas and his co-conspirators accessed these accounts by re-encoding the account numbers onto other cards, such as gift cards, and using those cards and the associated PINs at ATMs belonging to other financial institutions.

The scheme resulted in the compromise of more than 3,700 debit and credit cards, from which conspirators withdrew approximately $550,000.

Batinas was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 10, 2015, and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, as well as a mandatory consecutive two years in prison on the aggravated identity theft charge, when he is sentenced on April 28, 2016.

U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente, FBI’s Norfolk Office Special Agent in Charge John S. Adams, U.S. Secret Service Richmond Office Special Agent in Charge Douglas Mease, and U.S. Secret Service Norfolk Office Resident Agent in Charge George Purefoy made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert J. Krask.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian J. Samuels and Kaitlin C. Gratton are prosecuting the case. A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, and related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:15cr63.

Related Federal Cases