12/08/2005

Four jailed over bank ‘card skimming’ fraud

Four men have been jailed for their involvement in a ‘card skimming’ scam in Cardiff.

The four men, who are all originally from Eastern Europe, have also been recommended for deportation upon their release.

Lucian Carabgeac, 26, and Vornicu Florin, 26, both reportedly illegal immigrants from Romania, Ivan Grosu, 23, from Moldova and Rulan Ashan, 20, a Chechen asylum seeker, were all sentenced to four years imprisonment at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday.

The gang, who were all living in London, were arrested at the Cathedral hotel in Cardiff, South Wales, earlier this year.

The court heard how police found a variety of hi-tech equipment, including computers, cameras, tape recorders, radio transmitters and a false fascia of a cash machine, in the gang’s possession.

The court heard how the fascia contained an electronic card reader and memory recording for the details of bank cards. It also contained a video camera, which recorded customers, who believed they were using a genuine cash machine, inputting their PIN numbers.

The details could then be transmitted, via radio link, and downloaded onto a laptop computer. The details could then be used to create ‘cloned cards’, which could be used to access funds from the genuine account holder.

It is believed that the gang could have gained as much as £200,000 from the scam

At sentencing Judge Christopher Llewellyn-Jones told the men that they had made the public “fearful” of using cash points. He said that the offence was so serious that he had to give the men deterrent sentences.

(KMcA/SP)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

20 December 2013
Pair Found Guilty Of Lee Rigby Murder
Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale have been found guilty of murdering soldier Lee Rigby. Fusilier Rigby was killed as he made his way back to Woolwich barracks in south-east London on 22 May. The soldier was struck by a car before being dragged into the road and attacked with knives and a meat cleaver.
12 September 2006
Four men in court over terrorism charges
Four men have appeared in court charged with a number of terrorism offences following a series of raids by anti-terror police in London earlier this month. Yassin Mutegombwa, 22, his 20-year-old brother Hassan, Musa Akmet, 47 and Mustafa Abdullah, 24, have all been charged under anti-terrorism legislation.
19 June 2015
More Than 250kg Of Drugs Found Inside Fake Ambulance
A total of 270kg of illegal drugs have been found hidden inside secret compartments in a fake ambulance.
10 July 2007
Four 21/7 bomb plotters 'guilty'
Four men have been found guilty of plotting the 21/7 suicide bombing attacks in London. At Woolwich Crown Court, Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, Hussain Osman, 28, Yassin Omar, 26, and Ramzi Mohammed, 25, were all found guilty of conspiracy to murder. The cell had tried to set off bombs on the London Tube system and a bus two weeks after the 7/7 bombings.
16 March 2015
Four Arrested Over Fatal Nightclub Stabbing
Police investigating the suspected murder of a teenager at a Coventry nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning have arrested four men. Police reported that an 18-year-old was found dead outside Society Club in Tower Street at around 2am on Sunday (15 March).