A Romanian national, Christos Mavrokelos, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison following a series of ATM skimming offenses that siphoned nearly $150,000 from unsuspecting victims across California, announced by U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert. The 37-year-old Mavrokelos was also ordered to make a restitution payment of $75,000, according to a report from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California.

The scheme spanned from July 2021 through November 2023 and involved fraudulent debit cards loaded with information extracted illegally in Fresno and Madera Counties, among other locations Mavrokelos with a deliberate intent to defraud, tapped into at least 40 victims' bank accounts making unauthorized withdrawals from these accounts insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; this web of deceit led to significant financial duress for those affected, whose faith in the sanctity of their personal financial information was met with betrayal.

Sophisticated skimming devices, which can be clandestinely attached to bank ATMs and card readers, were the tools of the trade for this fraudster; they recorded the personal account details of card users unaware of the silent theft occurring with each transaction. Court records highlight the calculated nature of the thefts and the extent to which individuals' privacy was breached, with Mavrokelos actively and willfully engaging in his illegal cash extractions.