Two Romanian men have been jailed for stealing more than a quarter of a million dollars through ATM skimming in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.
Alexandru Stroia, 27 and Mircea Flutur, 30, were busted last year after they were caught on CCTV cameras installing skimming devices to several ATM machines.
Skimming devices are a device fitted to the card slot of an ATM machine which steals the electronic details of customer's cards. A camera concealed at the top of the machine records the PIN used by customers.
Brisbane District Court was today told police traced the pair to a unit at Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast last August.
During a raid of the home, officers found partially built skimming devices, camera components as well as $7500 in cash hidden in wardrobes.
Gold Coast police found more equipment plus 62 magnetic strip cards with PINs written on the front with felt pen at a Bundall storage facility.
Crown prosecutor Penny Floyd said the pair had attached the illegal devices to ATMs at Mt Gravatt, Zillmere, Clayfield in Brisbane and Mermaid Beach, Palm Beach and Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast.
On most occasions the devices were detected within days by bank staff.
Ms Floyd said police investigations showed Flutur - an unlawful non-citizen in Australia after he entered on a tourist visa - had transferred $214,000 from Australia to several European countries between March 2009 and August 2010.
Stroia, in Australia on a business long-stay visa, had transferred $88,000 mostly to Romania and the UK.
Both men admitted their involvement in the scam and told police they had been recruited by others to target ATMs.
Flutur described himself as a "soldier" for his gang and refused to provide police with details about who he was controlled by.
"I would love to help you but you have to understand my life gets really dangerous after," he told police.
Defence barrister Michael Byrne, QC, said his clients had been sending money back to their families in Romania.
"Both were vulnerable due to the position of family in an impoverished part of Europe," he said.
Mt Byrne said Flutur was pressured to commit the crimes after others involved in the scheme confiscated his passport.
He said the pair would be deported after they served their sentences.
Both men pleaded guilty to dealing in the proceeds of crime and a string of charges relating to possessing equipment used to attach skimming devices.
Stroia also pleaded guilty to two counts of wilful damage.
Judge Hugh Botting the pair's actions had been sophisticated and had only stopped when they were arrested.
He jailed Flutur for four years with an order he be eligible for parole after he serves 14 months and ordered Stroia be jailed for three years with an order he be eligible for parole after he serves eight months. |
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