Trio Charged In Skim Scam
By DOMENICK RAFTER
A federal grand jury in Connecticut indicted three Queens residents on charges related to alleged participation in an ATM “skimming” scheme.Sabrina Matache, 21, of Middle Village, Laura Stiuca, 31, of Maspeth and Nadia Pasici, 48, of Middle Village appeared before a federal judge in Hartford on May 25, and were each indicted with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The indictment also charges Matache and Stiuca with four counts of bank fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft. The defendants were arrested on April 22 at a branch of People’s United Bank in Darien, Conn.
According to the indictment, the trio is accused of conspiring to install “skimming” devices on ATMs, and on card swipe access devices used by banks to control access to ATM lobby doors, at People’s United Bank locations in Connecticut.
The devices were able to capture the information encoded on the magnetic strips of bankcards used by ATM customers. The indictment further alleges that the co-conspirators placed devices on the ATMs that contained hidden pinhole cameras, which were positioned in such a way as to be able to record the PIN numbers that bank customers keyed into the ATMs to gain access to their accounts. The co-conspirators are alleged to have used this stolen information to create counterfeit bankcards that allowed them to withdraw funds from the customers’ accounts.
The indictment alleges that in March and April, the threesome used the devices at an ATM in Cos Cob, Conn. Between April 19 and April 22, Matache and Stiuca allegedly used stolen bank account information to conduct unauthorized ATM withdrawals from ATMs in Darien, Stamford and Greenwich, Conn. It is alleged that, through this scheme, the three defendants victimized individuals and financial institutions out of at least $50,000.
At the time of the arrests, the three defendants allegedly possessed cash, several re-encoded gift cards containing stolen bank account information, handwritten notes with lists of stolen four-digit personal identification numbers, ATM skimming tools and other items used in the conspiracy.
If convicted, they could each face 30 years or more in prison and a $1 million fine.
Reach Reporter Domenick Rafter at drafter@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 125.