A card-skimming crime spree that swindled unsuspecting ATM users out of roughly $177,280 has resulted in a stiff prison sentence for one of the perpetrators. Florin Nicolae Tarta, 40, from Satu Mare, Romania, was handed a sentence exceeding six years for his role in installing skimming devices on ATMs across Chicago and New Jersey. These contraptions, disguised by a metallic plate, harbored a trifecta of illicit technology—a card reader, memory chip, and battery—poised to capture financial details from the cards of unwitting victims.
The ruse involved not only the skimming apparatus but also a secretive pinhole camera strategically positioned to record the PIN inputs of bank customers. After a few days of data harvesting, Tarta alongside his accomplices, would reclaim their illegal tech and scamper off to manufacture counterfeit gift cards using the stolen information. These bogus cards then became their tools for withdrawing stolen cash from various banks. But, like all schemes shadowed by the impermanence of luck, Tarta's came to a grinding halt in March 2024, when vigilant law enforcement uncovered the hidden camera at a Westfield, N.J. ATM, eventually pinching Tarta upon his ill-fated return.
In the early stages of this year, the U.S. District Court in Chicago found Tarta guilty on multiple charges, including bank fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft. On Sept. 10, 2025, U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt sentenced him to six years and 9 months in federal prison. This was reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois. Tarta's associates, Leonid Grigore Smetanca and Radu Farcas, also faced justice, receiving three and a half and two and a half years in prison, respectively.
Andrew S. Boutros, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, along with Douglas S. DePodesta, the FBI's Special Agent-in-Charge, credited the Westfield, N.J. Police Department for their invaluable assistance in the case. In the government's sentencing memorandum for Tarta, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Hayes emphasized the severity of the crime, stating, "Defendant repeatedly engaged in criminal conduct that imposes an enormous toll on the U.S. economy."
