Romanian duo jailed after scamming New Zealanders out of $ 75,380

Two Romanian nationals who scammed more than 100 New Zealanders out of $ 75,380 have been jailed.

Ionut Alexandru Oprescu, 31, and Victor Ionut Ghenadi, 36, were arrested in January for importing and possessing card extraction equipment, designed to help people obtain other people’s credit card details.

The duo, who are believed to have ties to international criminal organizations, arrived in Auckland from Dubai in November last year.

Customs opened an investigation into the couple in January after a courier driver informed them of the seizure of two packages sent from London.

Declared a “music box” and a “laptop without a hard drive”, both packages actually hid card extraction devices.

The same month, they searched Oprescu and Ghenadi’s home and arrested them.

Oprescu was trying to hide items in the ceiling cavity when Customs and police officers raided the men’s rented apartment on Hobson St, Customs says.

“A large number of parts, tools and equipment used to make card skimming devices, a complete and functional skimming device, blank cards and a card writing machine were also found,” said Customs.

“Hidden inside Ghenadi’s pillow were numerous cards, such as Bonfire, Smiggle, JB Hi-Fi and Countdown / AA Smartfuel, which were loaded with financial information linked to the victims’ credit cards.”

Ghenadi was caught at a restaurant with a Farmers card loaded in his wallet, and a search of his rental car found the molding clay used to assemble the skimming devices.

Analysis of his computer recovered 122 bank card numbers, providing evidence of the $ 75,380 that was stolen from many victims.

Bank deposit receipts and chat conversations also showed that between mid-December and mid-January, $ 43,550 of the $ 75,380 was cashed out and deposited into an account to be converted into cryptocurrency.

Electronic forensics of the men’s phones found images of various bank ATMs, and payment machines in parking lots and gas stations.

A USB hard drive connected to a pinhole camera, found in the apartment, showed videos of people entering their PIN access codes while using a machine.

Customs Investigations Manager Bruce Berry says the couple traveled to New Zealand for the sole purpose of committing fraud and “had no qualms about stealing funds from hardworking New Zealanders.”

“Customs works closely with law enforcement and industry partners to prevent exactly this type of illegal behavior,” he said.

“The swift and collaborative work of Customs and others ensured that many more innocent people did not lose their money.

“The two packages that hid the skimming devices were aimed at the homes of innocent occupants, which is a common method used by criminals to smuggle illegal products such as drugs, tobacco and skimming equipment.”

Both men were convicted of importing devices for a dishonest purpose, altering documents with the intention of obtaining them by deception, manufacturing goods with the intention of facilitating a crime involving dishonesty and dishonest use of a document.
Ghenadi was also convicted of money laundering.

In Auckland District Court today, Oprescu was sentenced to two years and five months in prison and Ghenadi was sentenced to three years in prison.

Berry thanked the courier driver and the company, as the driver had refused to deliver a package when one of the men approached him on the street trying to pick it up.

The courier company then alerted Customs, prompting an investigation.

“Customs works closely with courier companies to make sure they are aware of known criminal behavior,” Berry said.

“By alerting Customs to suspicious deliveries, they have played an important role in helping protect our communities.”

Can you help? If a package or delivery looks suspicious, call 0800 4 CUSTOMS (0800 428 786) confidentially, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 anonymously.