The defendants allegedly stole victims’ banking information by way of the skimmers, using that info to siphon off and then launder vast amounts of cash using ATMs and banks in Manhattan.
According to documents filed in court, the top four defendants – Garegin Spartalyan, 40, Aram Martirosian, 34, Hayk Dzhandhapanyan, 40, and Davit Kudugulyan, 42 – used credit-card skimming devices to copy credit and debit card numbers, as well as PINs, that individuals used at Raceway and Racetrac gas stations throughout Texas, Georgia and South Carolina. The skimming devices were internally installed within the gas pumps, and were thus undetectable to victims who paid at the pumps. The devices were also Bluetooth enabled, so the defendants did not have to physically remove the skimming devices to obtain the stolen personal identifying information.
These defendants then allegedly encoded that stolen information onto forged cards. From approximately March 2012 to March 2013, they used those forged cards to withdraw cash at ATMs in Manhattan, and then deposited the stolen money into bank accounts they estabilished in New York. The other members of the scheme then promptly withdrew the laundered money at banks in California and Nevada.
Each of the defendants’ transactions was under $10,000. They were allegedly structured in a manner to avoid any cash transaction reporting requirements imposed by law and to disguise the nature, ownership and control of the defendants’ criminal proceeds. From March 26, 2012, to March 28, 2013, the defendants allegedly laundered approximately $2.1 million.
“By using skimming devices planted inside gas station pumps, these defendants are accused of fueling the fastest growing crime in the country,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, in the court documents. “Cybercriminals and identity thieves are not limited to any geographic region, working throughout the world behind computers. In this case, the defendants are charged with stealing personal identifying information from victims in southern states, used forged bank cards on the East Coast, and withdrew stolen proceeds on the West Coast. My office’s Cybercrime and Identity Theft Bureau also operates across borders, and will continue to track and prosecute identity thieves here in Manhattan and around the world.”
The four lead defendants have been charged with money laundering, criminal possession of stolen property, grand larceny, criminal possession of a forgery device and criminal possession of forged instruments. There are nine additional defendants, and each have been charged with two counts of money laundering.