Romanian Nationals Indicted for Fraud Conspiracy and ID Theft

RICHMOND, Va. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging a two Romanian nationals with bank fraud, debit card fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

According to the indictment, Florin Bersanu, 31, and Viorel Naboiu, 43, participated in a scheme to insert skimming devices inside the card slots of multiple banks in Virginia, West Virginia and Florida. As bank customers conducted ATM transactions, the skimming devices captured the victim customers’ debit card numbers when they inserted their cards into the ATM slot. Bersanu and Naboiu also installed small, covert surveillance cameras, disguised to blend into the ATMs’ exterior, which videoed the finger movements of bank customers as they entered their PINs during the transactions. The defendants later encoded the skimmed debit card numbers onto blank plastic magnetic stripe cards, and using the videoed PINs they made cash withdrawals from the victim customers’ bank accounts. The defendants are accused of stealing at least $42,756.80 in funds from BB&T Bank and Henrico Federal Credit Union in Virginia, United Bank in West Virginia, and Pen Air Federal Credit Union and Eglin Federal Credit Union in Florida.

Bersanu and Naboiu are charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. If convicted, they face maximum possible sentences of 30 years on the bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud charges, 10 years on the access device fraud charge, and a mandatory minimum term of two years for aggravated identity theft that must run consecutive to any other punishment imposed. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Adam S. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian R. Hood is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:18-cr-75.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.