CU Loses Nearly $300,000 in Four Hours With ATM Skimming Device

From 4:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 17, 2023, two men allegedly stole $279,250 from 44 member accounts at four ATMs of the $481 million Westerly Community Credit Union in Wakefield, R.I.

The men, Ionut Zamfir and Armando Ion Codreanu, were part of a six-person fraud ring busted this month by federal investigators, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Providence.

Five of the six fraud ring members were recently charged in federal court for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to install skimming devices on ATMs at Westerly Community and the $2.7 billion BankNewport in Middletown, R.I. The fraudsters allegedly siphoned more than $17,025 from 22 customer accounts during the early morning hours on Oct. 19, 2023 at one ATM.

Both the credit union and bank reported the ATM fraud to police, which helped investigators arrest and charge five of the six suspects.

According to authorities, the fraud ring used member and customer account information gleaned from the skimming devices to create counterfeit cards that were then used to fraudulently withdraw cash from victims’ accounts and/or to make retail purchases. They also installed skimming devices at major retail store checkout point-of-sale units at 22 locations in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and New York.

In addition to the $297,175 the fraudsters allegedly stole from member and customer accounts, they also made an as yet unknown number of purchases at the retail outlets.

The six fraud ring members are foreign nationals and five of them do not have legal status to reside in the U.S., according to prosecutors.

Armando Ion Codreanu, 23, of Placentia, Calif., a citizen of Ireland, pleaded not guilty last week to felony counts of conspiracy to commit access device fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Isabela Ignat Codreanu, 23, of Anaheim and Placentia, Calif., a citizen of Romania, Robby Vicson Codreanu, 20, of Placentia, Calif., a citizen of Great Britain, and Mila Ciuciu, 20, of Placentia, Calif., a citizen of Romania, were each charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud. All of them pleaded not guilty last week.

A fifth defendant, Nicolas Longin Codreanu, 21, of Placentia, Calif., a citizen of Romania and Ireland, pleaded not guilty on July 11 to conspiracy to commit access device fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

All but one of the defendants were ordered to be held in federal custody. Mila Ciuciu was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond, court filings showed.

An arrest warrant has been issued for a sixth defendant, Ionut Zamfir, 37, of Los Angeles, a citizen of Romania. Zamfir is charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to court documents.