Man Sentenced In ATM Skimming Scheme That Defrauded Stratford Bank

STRATFORD, CT — Nicolae Marius Barbu, 50, a citizen of Romania, was sentenced Thursday to 21 months in prison in connection with his role in an extensive ATM skimming scheme that defrauded banks in Connecticut, including in Stratford, according to federal officials.

From February to June 2017, a Connecticut bank experienced about 35 incidents of ATM skimming at locations in Stratford, Monroe, Trumbull, Greenwich, Fairfield and elsewhere in Connecticut, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

“As part of the scheme, conspiracy members placed skimming devices at the ATMs to capture account numbers and personal identification numbers (“PINs”) from customers who used their ATM cards at the ATMs while the devices were in place,” officials wrote in the news release. “Conspiracy members then used the captured information to make substitute ATM cards, and obtained money and made purchases using those cards.”

Officials said Barbu joined the conspiracy in April 2017.

“In addition, in April 2018, Barbu and another individual stole credit cards from an individual’s belongings at a gym in Rockville, Maryland,” officials wrote. “They then used the cards to make more than $9,000 in purchases at Microsoft and Apple stores in Maryland.”

Barbu was ordered to pay restitution of $139,533 to the victim bank, and $9,536 to the banks that issued the credit cards used for his fraudulent purchases, according to the news release.

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.

He pleaded guilty in March 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, officials said.