NEWARK, N.J. – Two members of a scheme that used secret card-reading devices and pinhole cameras on PNC and Bank of America ATMs to steal at least $428,581 pleaded guilty today in Newark federal court, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.
Florin Mares, 49, and his brother, Gabriel Mares, 44, both of College Point, New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas to separate informations charging them each with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Florin Mares, Gabriel Mares, and others sought to defraud financial institutions and their customers by illegally obtaining customer account information, including account numbers and personal identification numbers. Florin Mares and Gabriel Mares both admitted that between March 2015 and July 2016, they made unauthorized cash withdrawals using the counterfeit ATM cards.
The conspiracy to commit bank fraud charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Sentencing for both defendants is set for Nov. 20, 2017.
Joel Abel Garcia, Victor A. Hanganu, Radu Bogdan Marin, Marcel Peckham, Catalin Mihai Dragomir, Eduard Vasilica Ticu, Silvester Florentin Papp, Stefan Dumitru, and Florian Calin Crainic also pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme. To date, 11 of the 13 defendants charged in this matter have been convicted.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) Newark Division, under the direction Acting Special Agent in Charge Debra Parker, along with the U.S. Secret Service’s Boston Field Office; Longmeadow,
Massachusetts, Police Department; Cambridge, Massachusetts, Police Department; and Medford, Massachusetts, Police Department investigated the case with assistance from Bank of America Security and Fraud Section and PNC Bank Security Division. The Middlesex County, Massachusetts, District Attorney’s Office; U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York and U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Massachusetts Springfield Division assisted in the investigation and prosecution.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Graves of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark and Trial Attorney Marianne Shelvey of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division Organized Crime and Gang Section.
Defense counsel:
Florin Mares: David Glazer Esq., Livingston, New Jersey
Gabriel Mares: Laurie Fierro Esq., Kinnelon, New Jersey
--DOJ District of New Jersey