Two Romanian nationals have found themselves in the legal spotlight, facing serious charges over alleged card skimming activities at various Walmart locations. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana has handed down an indictment against Daniel Iulian Teutoc, also known as "Simon Mikula," and Constantin Calin on several counts that include conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, access device fraud, and possession of unauthorized access devices.
Acting as a magnetic alchemist, Teutoc and Calin allegedly used magnets to activate skimming devices that scoured card information from Walmart shoppers at points of sale. This illicit harvest, once captured, was transmitted directly to their mobile phones. Their digital plundering journey swept through stores from New Orleans to Laplace and beyond. The synthesized card data was then sent sailing through electronic channels to another unidentified co-conspirator, all in a bid to wring fraudulent transactions from the stolen accounts, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Penalties for these types of fraud are by no means a slap on the wrist. If Teutoc and Calin are convicted of the fraud conspiracies, each could face up to 30 years behind bars and could be fined as much as $1,000,000. Charges of owning unauthorized access devices carry sentences of up to 10 years in prison and fines reaching $250,000. Furthermore, each count comes attached with a mandatory special assessment fee of $100, as noted in the indictment, as obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
It's important to underscore the point, as Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson did, by remembering in a statement by the U.S. Attorney's Office, "the indictment is merely a charging document and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt." But Simpson also took the opportunity to laud the efforts of numerous agencies in their investigative collaboration, which included Homeland Security Investigations and local police departments. Ensuring due credit, assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul J. Hubbell, Nicholas Moses, and André Jones were hailed for spearheading the prosecution. Their work not only reflects a commitment to legal diligence but also an unwavering stand against economic crimes that can harm everyday Americans.
