CONCORD – Stefan Catalin Bereanda, 45, a Romanian citizen unlawfully present in the United States, pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday to bank fraud and identity theft, Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in November of 2019, Bereanda and his co-defendant, Adrian Redenciuc, devised a scheme to defraud a New Hampshire bank by obtaining account information belonging to the bank’s customers, re-encoding the information onto new cards, and using those cards to withdraw funds from customer accounts. Surveillance footage revealed that on or about November 9, 2019, Redenciuc installed skimming devices on several ATMs in Claremont. He also installed small hidden cameras designed to record the PIN number entered by the customer during an ATM transaction. On November 10, 2019, surveillance footage captured Redenciuc removing the devices. Over the next few days, the two men visited several ATM locations around Claremont and made unauthorized withdrawals totaling over $30,000 using the information obtained through the skimming devices.
Bereanda is scheduled to be sentenced on March 1, 2022. Redenciuc has not yet been taken into custody.
“Identity theft and bank fraud offenses are significant crimes that cause serious financial and emotional harm to victims,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley. “This defendant’s scheme used skimming devices and hidden cameras to steal information from innocent bank customers. Thanks to the work of the Secret Service, this disturbing criminal scheme was stopped and this defendant has been held accountable for his unlawful conduct.”
This matter was investigated by the United States Secret Service and Claremont Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kasey Weiland.
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