Romanian fugitive makes millions from ATM fraud, uses his fortune to get bail... then goes on the run
A FUGITIVE Romanian fraudster who helped plunder billions from cashpoint machine users is still hawking his sophisticated ‘skimming’ devices after escaping during his trial.
Alexandru Sovu was branded the ‘world’s biggest bank robber’ after developing and selling thousands of the gadgets, which can be attached to any ATM, train station ticket machine or self-pay petrol pump to record users’ card details.
He led a gang mass-producing the skimmers from a garden shed at a suburban home in Essex for over a decade before being arrested.
But after hiring a £1,000-a-day barrister, he was granted bail and fled during his trial for a series of fraud-related charges last month. It has been claimed that, having taken flying lessons, he escaped using a private plane.
A judge admitted he would never feel confident using a cashpoint machine again and accused Sovu of sticking ‘two fingers up’ at the law as he jailed him for 11 years in his absence.
But despite being one of the most wanted men in the world, he has reactivated his website to continue selling his skimmers for up to £1,500 each.
IT expert Nick Webber, who worked on the police investigation into Sovu, said: ‘He created thousands of these devices. Each could hold 32,000 card details and the average bank account holds £380, so he must have cost banks hundreds of millions and very likely billions of pounds.
‘He’s effectively the biggest bank robber in the world. He didn’t care who he sold the devices to or what they did with the money.
‘His skimmers went to organised crime groups and also probably funded terrorism. Card skimmers have previously been used by jihadis, people traffickers and arms dealers who supplied Middle Eastern terrorists.
‘I was able to go on to Sovu’s website and try to purchase the devices after he went on the run. I stopped when I got to the card payment page.’
Sovu, 39, a computer programming and electronics graduate from the Romanian capital Bucharest, initially began stealing credit card details in his homeland. After fleeing police investigating a £35,000 credit card fraud there in 2003, he settled in Reading, Berkshire, and began designing and making skimmers, which he sold across Europe, North America and Asia, earning millions.
Sovu registered a firm with Companies House and filed annual accounts. Nobody appeared to notice it was called Card-Reader-Factory Ltd, a blatant description of his criminal enterprise.
Sovu was first arrested during an investigation in 2010 by the City of London Police. Officers found £400,000, skimming devices and a contact list of potential customers in his flat, but the case was dropped due to lack of evidence.
Soon afterwards Sovu began making regular trips to Hong Kong and China, where he expanded his business while using mother- of-two Anca Fuioaga as his ‘UK representative’.
His gang included Ionel Baluta, who was allowed into the UK despite previous card skimming convictions across Europe. The gang operated from his £400,000 home in Colchester, Essex. Mean-laundering while, in Hong Kong Sovu also set up a sideline selling Bitcoin ‘mining’ machines – a means of producing units of the encrypted digital currency – for £6,000 each via a firm called Black Arrow.
Numerous internet forums branded it a scam and after receiving 14 complaints against him, Hong Kong police opened a money investigation and interviewed him in 2014. But the case was eventually classified as a ‘business dispute’ and dropped.
Sovu was finally forced to face justice in the UK after British Transport Police launched a new inquiry into his gang when they discovered rail ticket machines had been fitted with skimmers.
In an operation led by Detective Constable Terry Botten, officers bugged Baluta’s garden and subsequently raided Sovu’s home, where they found almost £100,000 in cash in different currencies.
Sovu was abroad during the raid, but after learning about it he still returned to the UK to collect his possessions and chase debts. He was arrested in July 2016 as he arrived at Heathrow.
DC Botten said: ‘As far as he is concerned he is the smartest guy in the world. He returned to the UK to fight the case in the belief that he could win.’
As evidence mounted against him, he vanished in the final week of his trial. His passport had been confiscated and police believe he got abroad using false papers.
But Paula Cioaca, who stood trial with Sovu but was cleared of all charges, said: ‘Probably he ran away with a private plane – he had been taking [flying] lessons.’
Jailing him for 11 years at Blackfriars Crown Court, Judge Rajeev Shetty said Sovu was one of the most ‘wanted men in the world’, adding: ‘He has shown breathtaking arrogance and put two fingers up to law and order.’
Police believe Sovu is running his business from an industrial area in Shenzhen, mainland China, while living in Hong Kong.
‘Two fingers up to law and order’