Three Lithuanian banks are trapped in the emigrant: they paid with blank and even blocked cards

Although he realized that he was committing a crime and that the money would have to be returned to the banks sooner or later, he did not stop the man: he stopped the illegal activity only when bank employees who noticed his fraud scheme blocked credit cards. payment. True, not right away – the man was able to pay for purchases even with a blocked card.

These circumstances became clear after the investigation carried out by the police and the prosecution, initiated by the employees of three banks operating in Lithuania: authorized representatives of SEB, Citadelė and Šiaulių bankas delivered statements about fraud to officials.

Representatives of SEB Bank told police that Andrius Lochankov, 34, officially registered with Ukmergė, had been issued a MasterCard debit debit card with no credit limit, but was able to execute dozens of payment transactions in a few months, causing 3,638 euros in property damage.

The representatives of Šiaulių bankas had also issued an A. Debuch Mastercard to A. Luchonkov without credit limit, the man had not deposited a single penny in this account, but was able to carry out even more payment transactions, causing damage to the bank by a amount of EUR 7,900.

Citadele Bank suffered the least by issuing a Visa Classic credit card with LTL 1,000. Credit in euros: by liquidating it, the man caused 1,158 euros of damage to the bank.

A. Luchonkov has already been sentenced for losses that he will have to compensate the banks. The Vilnius Regional Court had found him guilty in a fraud case when he took more than 26 thousand shares belonging to a company of the then DNB Nord Bank. Eur and wasted them.

At that time, according to a new criminal case, officials discovered that Luchonkov had liquidated accounts with commercial banks and received payment cards while flying Ryanair, Wizz Air and Norwegian Air Shuttle planes. bank card status than actual account balance.

It was established that A. Luchonkov sometimes flew to Norway several times a week and then back to Lithuania, and during the flight he bought various products sold on the plane, both cosmetics and tobacco products.

The SEB Bank Retail Banking Risk Manager pointed out to the police officers that after reviewing the details of the debit card issued in the name of A. Luchonkov, he noticed that the bank’s customer had been paying with the card during the flights in so-called “offline” mode for several months. Check if there are funds in the account, but you have not deposited or transferred a penny to the account since the time the card was issued.

The bank immediately decided to block the payment card and notify its customer, but the mobile phone number provided by this customer was disconnected and the registered letter sent did not return.

“The bank card was blocked, but the customer continued to use it, because after inserting the card into the online reader during the flight, it does not contact the bank payment card service systems, which could signal and block the blocked card , because there is no connection during the flight. “, – said a representative of SEB bankas to the officials during the interview.

He also claimed that the bank had contacted Mastercard and reported customer fraud.

Although SEB employees were unable to contact A. Luchonkov, Šiaulių bankas employees spoke with him; the man admitted that he had spent a great deal of money paying with cards during the flights and promised to return them. But he did not keep his promises and continued to pay for goods during the flights.

The emigrant promised to cover the debt with the representatives of Citadele Bank, but they did not receive the money either.

At that time, A. Luchonkov himself still promises to compensate the banks for losses, but asks for time; as soon as you make money, you will definitely give it to the banks.

The man, who has been living abroad for 18 years, said he used to work illegally as a builder in England and more recently in Norway, painting houses. “I found a job myself and go back to Lithuania several times a month,” he said.

The man admitted that he had been suffering from an incurable disease for several years. his heart had stopped, so he fought for his life in a scam: he had flown to Panama, where he learned that here the baby’s umbilical cord is used to make drugs that restore the body.

“For humans, even the limbs grow back, not to the end, but to grow back,” Luchonkov said.

According to him, the course of such treatment costs about 17-18 thousand. EUR.

“I thought that after being cured in Panama, I could return the money that I had spent to the banks, but I could not do it,” Luchonkov said during the survey.

The man said that to cure a serious illness, he went to three banks and received payment cards when he opened checking accounts there.

“The treatment required money, so I started paying with blank cards during the flights; I usually bought cigarettes and sold them on the go,” he said. – The prices of cigarettes depended on the airlines, I always took the ones that could be sold more expensively in the country I was going to. I already had clients, I sold cigarettes as soon as I left the airport. “

The migrant assured that the limit of 400 Eur applies when buying during the flight, so there were cases in which he bought up to 7 blocks of cigarettes.

“I sold cigarettes in Norway, Switzerland, England,” said the man, selling a block of cigarettes earning up to 45 euros.

“This is how I collected money for my treatment,” Luchonkov said in court. He added that after he is cured, he plans to live not in Lithuania, but in Norway; has already started processing documents and also has a job here.

“I want to become a full-fledged and legal Norwegian citizen, I will not live in Lithuania, I have no source of livelihood here, and in Norway now I trade online, as well as buy and sell various items, because there are no construction orders on this moment, “said Umergiškis.

The man assured that he would reimburse the banks as soon as he could. “I’m sincerely sorry I did,” he explained.

However, at least in the near future, A. Luchonkov will have to forget about his life in Norway: the court that heard the defendant’s case decided to find him guilty of fraud. Taking into account the circumstances and motives of the crime, as well as the fact that A. Luchonkov regrets, compensated part of the damage, suffers from an incurable disease, Judge Regina Nenortienė decided to impose a lower penalty than criminal law: a restriction of one year. Instead of intensive supervision, the court ordered the convict to register with the Employment Service or start working, and also prohibited him from changing residence without the knowledge of the prison authority.

Furthermore, the court ordered Mr. Luchonkov to pay a fine of 7,530 euros, which he had already paid in 2013. He was appointed by a court in a case of misuse of property.

The court that heard the criminal case indicated that the convicted had already compensated part of the damage to the banks, for which he was sentenced to 5.5 thousand. Eur to compensate for material damage.

“According to the rules of payment card schemes, there is the exception that payment transactions on board can be carried out without verifying the balance of the payment card account,” the judge said in the ruling. – In this case, if there are no funds in the account or they are insufficient, operations can be performed in the “minus”, that is, using the funds that belong to the bank. They used cigarettes to buy cigarettes, perfumes, shampoos, creams and then to buy other items ”.