Threat Management

Two Romanian men sentenced for skimming scheme

A federal court today sentenced two Romanian men to 57 months in prison for installing card skimming devices at Citibank locations in New Jersey and Connecticut in 2012 and 2013.

Ioan Leusca (known as Ionel Spinu), Dezso Gyapias (also known as Valentin Folea) and their co-conspirators installed skimmers and pinhole cameras at bank ATMs to record identity and account information contained on cards' magnetic strips. They then transferred the information on to blank cards. The two men and their cohorts snagged $985,000 in the caper.

Leusca and Gyapias each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. In addition to serving jail time, U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martini ordered the men to serve two years of supervised release and pay $985,000 in restitution.

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