Romanian sentenced for skimming devices, identity theft

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nebraska, OMAHA, Neb. — A Romanian man has been sentenced in federal court for possessing skimming device-making equipment with intent to defraud and aggravated identity theft.

Ciprian Amariutei, 37, whose address remains unknown, was sentenced on August 23 by Chief U.S. District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr., to 40 months in prison. Amariutei received 16 months for possession of device-making equipment with intent to defraud and 24 consecutive months for aggravated identity theft. Amariutei will serve a 2-year term of supervised release following his prison sentence. Under federal law, there is no parole.

Amariutei’s co-defendant, 32-year-old Romanian citizen Mona Maria Tataru, was sentenced on March 8, 2024.

Tataru received a total sentence of 34 months for the same charges, including 10 months for possession of device-making equipment and 24 months for identity theft. After completing her sentence, she will also serve two years of supervised release.

The pair were caught in April 2023 after Omaha police surveillance footage showed them installing a skimming device and a pinhole camera on an ATM in Omaha. Law enforcement tracked them to a local motel, where officers discovered additional skimming devices, cameras, equipment to create counterfeit debit and ATM cards, and several cards encoded with stolen bank account data. Officers uncovered approximately 220 sets of stolen bank account information linked to over a dozen banks.

The investigation was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security and the Omaha Police Department.