Manhattan Beach ATM Skimmers Sentenced to Jail

Two Los Angeles men who put a skimming device on a bank ATM in Manhattan Beach were sentenced today to nine months in jail and three years probation.

Melik Torosyan, 32, and Khachatur Harutyunyan, 24, pleaded no contest to one felony count each of multiple identity theft.

Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Brad M. Fox ordered them to pay back a total of $2,610.

The two left the skimming device on an ATM at a Chase bank branch on March 15 and returned later the same night to retrieve it, prosecutors said.

Undercover officers arrested the two as they left the bank’s parking lot.

Evidence seized included a credit card scanner, skimming device, credit cards, gift cards, cell phones, mounting tape and a magnetic block to clear the magnetic strips on cards, police said.

According to police, the suspects installed the skimmer and used a pinhole camera to record PIN numbers. Account information for at least 13 customers was captured by the device.

It was later discovered that Torosyan and Harutyunyan placed similar devices on ATMs in Manhattan Beach at least six other times, starting Jan. 30, officials said.

• City News Service