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Three east London card fraudsters face jail after being caught with card-skimming equipment in the City of London.
Cristian-Petrut Zaharia, 19, and Ioan Zaharia, 52, of Leytonstone and Sandu Vasilca, 30, of Ilford, were all convicted of going equipped for theft at the City of London Magistrates’ Court.
The court was told how the trio were arrested on June 25 after detectives noticed their car heading to Cheapside that evening to carry out card skimming offences.
Cristian-Perut Zaharia was seen getting out of the back seat of the vehicle, going up to an ATM machine with a bank card for a very short moment before heading back into the car.
When police searched the car 20 minutes later, they discovered items typically used for skimming cash machines, as well as dispenser covers, tape, hook picks, screwdrivers, superglue and chisels.
A large sum of cash was also discovered, City of London Police wrote in a statement.
Detective Constable James Crellin said: “This successful prosecution highlights our work in catching the offenders and preventing further crimes being carried out.
“Due to our effective CCTV across the City, our control room officers were able to pinpoint their location, which led to the arrests.
“It’s also a warning to those thinking of committing crimes in the City, we will catch you and bring you to justice.
“The impact of this type of crime can be devastating for the victims, who might find their accounts drained of money.”
Cristian-Perut Zaharia and Vasilca were found guilty after a trial.
Ioan Zaharia had pleaded guilty to the offences in an earlier hearing and has been remanded to appear at the Old Bailey for sentencing.
Cristian-Petrut Zaharia and Vasilca have both been bailed and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 6 September.
Detectives said the case was an example of card entrapment and card skimming.
To trap a card, fraudsters insert a device into the machine to prevent a card from being ejected. The fraudster then removes the card once you have left the cash machine.
Fraudsters also ‘skim’ cards by inserting a device into an ATM which will copy the magnetic stripe details from your card.
