ATM Skimming Case Against Studio City Man to Go Federal

STUDIO CITY, CA -- Felony charges against two men suspected of placing skimming devices at ATMs in Burbank and Torrance were dismissed today in favor of a federal case against the pair.

Alexsandru Barbu, 55, of Studio City, and Ferenc Szekely, 42, of Las Vegas, Nevada, were each originally charged with one felony count of possession of multiple personal identifying information and five counts of second-degree commercial burglary.

The two allegedly installed skimming devices that scan information from the magnetic strip of a debit or credit card, then used the stolen information to create cloned ATM cards to steal more than $85,000 from a single US Bank branch in Burbank between Aug. 14 and Aug. 29.

The District Attorney's Office dropped the charges -- which carried a potential maximum sentence of up to six years and four months in state prison -- at the request of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"The exposure that the defendants face in the federal case is greater than what our case would have provided," said Sarah Ardalani of the D.A.'s office.

More than 50 victims were identified in the case of the Burbank branch, and the pair allegedly attempted more than $233,000 in transactions that were declined, according to police.

Detectives believe the pair, who were allegedly caught on surveillance video setting up a skimmer on a US Bank branch in Torrance, were responsible for total losses and declined transactions exceeding $500,000.

City News Service