Fraudster Faces Sentencing in Navy Federal Credit Union ATM Skimming Scheme

Aurel Eremia, who was extradited to the U.S. earlier this year from Romania, is scheduled to be sentenced in March for his involvement in a fraud ring that targeted 10 ATMs in Virginia and compromised 4,579 accounts of members of the $131 billion Navy Federal Credit Union.

The ATM skimming scheme resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Eremia, 43, pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Newport News to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. He faces up to 30 years in prison, though actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalty.

According to court documents, in 2014 and 2015 Eremia and four other conspirators engaged in a widespread effort to install portable skimming devices and micro camera equipment inside and over the mouth of Navy Federal ATMs card readers and keypads. The fraud ring used these devices to record and acquire the personal identification and financial information of Navy Federal members.

The conspirators stored and transferred by electronic means the personal identification and financial information to access accounts belonging to Navy Federal members by, among other things, re-encoding account numbers onto the magnetic strips of other cards, including gift cards, federal prosecutors said in a prepared statement.

The re-encoded cards, in combination with the corresponding PINs, were used to make unauthorized withdrawals and transfers from the compromised Navy Federal accounts throughout eastern Virginia and elsewhere.

“From the time this fraud was committed in 2014, we have been working closely with law enforcement to ensure that a successful resolution would be met,” Chip Kohlweiler, vice president of security at Navy Federal, said. “Keeping both our members and employees safe and secure is our priority. We will continue to place focus on ensuring our members’ finances and information are protected.”

In addition to Eremia, the fraud ring included six other persons.

While prosecutors dropped charges against two suspects because of a lack of evidence, four conspirators were convicted on various bank and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft felonies.

In 2017, Ramona Bunghez was sentenced to 65 months in prison and ordered to pay $616,173 in restitution, and Cristi Tudoran was sentenced to 39 months in prison and ordered to pay $52,076 in restitution.

In 2016, Paul Batinas was sentenced to 65 months in prison and ordered to pay $432,513 in restitution, and Marius Vislan was sentenced to 45 months in prison and ordered to pay $51,198 in restitution.