Romanian citizen gets prison for ‘skimming’ from area ATMS

A Romanian citizen was sentenced to 21 months in prison Thursday for his participation in a far reaching conspiracy to steal from customers of ATM banking machines in Connecticut and elsewhere.

Nicolae M. Barbu, 50, was part of a gang that placed what are known as skimming devices at ATM machines, most in southwest Connecticut, to capture the account numbers and passwords of customers.

Federal prosecutors said Barbu and the other gang members used the stolen information to create counterfeit ATM cards and withdraw funds from unwitting bank customers over the first six months of 2017.

Among the 35 ATM locations that were hit were machines in Stratford, Monroe, Trumbull, Greenwich and Fairfield.

Barbu, who was sentenced in Hartford by U.S. District Judge Michael Shea, was charged additionally with stealing credit cards from a gym in Maryland and using the cards to buy more than $9,000 in goods at electronics retailers.

Shea ordered Barbu to pay restitution of $139,533 to the bank victimized

in the skimming operation and $9,536 to the banks that issued the credit cards used for his fraudulent purchases.

Barbu was arrested in Michigan in September 2020. He subsequently pleaded guilty and was sentenced in Michigan for state

offenses related to credit card theft and possession of forged identification. On March 25, 2022, Barbu pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Barbu, who has been detained since his arrest, faces immigration proceedings when he completes his

prison term.