A Romanian man was sentenced to 45 months in federal prison for an ATM skimming scheme that stole about $191,983 from more than 190 account holders, including through machines in Cayuga and Onondaga counties.
Gheorghe Nistor, 44, was sentenced Oct. 6 for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York said.
Nistor and Radu-Lucien Grigoras installed skimming devices and pinhole cameras on ATMs from April through August 2024. Their operation also reached other states, according to prosecutors.
The skimmers captured bank card information, while the cameras recorded customers entering their personal identification numbers. The men encoded the stolen information onto cards’ magnetic strips and used the cards and PINs to withdraw money from victims’ accounts.
U.S. District Judge David Hurd also imposed three years of supervised release after Nistor’s prison term.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III said Nistor faces deportation proceedings after completing his sentence.
The FBI investigated with assistance from State Police, Pennsylvania State Police and police departments in Cicero and Auburn, New York; Leavenworth, Kansas; and St. Charles City and St. Peters, Missouri. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew McCrobie prosecuted the case.
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