A Romanian national has been slammed with a 75-month prison stint for spearheading a fraud ring that swindled cash from ATM users, many on public assistance, federal authorities said Monday.
Marius Oprea, 38, was residing in a short-term rental in Port Hueneme when he was sentenced late Friday by U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, who also hit him with a bill for $28,974 in restitution, the Justice Department reported. The scheme involved using illegal skimming devices on ATMs, to snag data, produce counterfeit debit cards, and bleed funds from countless victims' accounts – targeting especially those relying on government assistance to get by.
Oprea pleaded guilty back in June to a count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, admitting his role in the high-tech thievery which saw duplicated cards being used to make unauthorized cash withdrawals, according to the Justice Department's announcement.
Bank of America accounts, providing debit cards for various California welfare programs were the primary target of the fraudsters, whose transactions served to impoverish the very individuals - unemployed, disabled - that these programs meant to support, an FBI agent declared in court filings. According to the government's sentencing memorandum, "[Oprea] illegally entered our country for one purpose – to take advantage of the weaker ATM security here, which does not require cards containing computer chips"
This case was developed by the FBI with assistance from the Ventura County District Attorney's Office and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Brown of the Major Frauds Section delivered Oprea to justice.
For more information, Ciaran McEvoy, Public Information Officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office can be reached via email at [email protected] or call (213) 894-4465.
