A man believed to have entered the U.S. illegally is facing time in prison after placing skimmers on a number of western Pennsylvania ATMs to steal money from victims' accounts.
U.S. Attorney Stephen Kaufman announced Monday that 50-year-old Jano Vaczi pleaded guilty in court to fraud and aggravated identify theft charges.
From March 2018 to June 2019, Vaczi and co-conspirators installed the skimmers on ATM throughout Northwestern Pennsylvania and were able gain access to bank account information and personally identity information of a number of people. They used that information to steal thousands of dollars from the accounts of the victims.
A storage locker that Vaczi rented in the Pittsburgh area was searched by the FBI. They found hundreds of cards containing stolen bank information used to access victim accounts at ATMs enabling Vaczi and his associates to steal the money from the accounts.
In addition to the cards, the FBI also found $10,000 in cash, ATM skimming equipment and a number of fake passports and international driver's licenses that had Vaczi's photo on them with different names.
Also, just before the FBI apprehended Vaczi, he was attempting to bury hundreds of cards with stolen information on them near a grocery store in the Pittsburgh area. FBI agents discovered the cards when they noticed the ground near Vaczi had been recently disturbed.
Vaczi is now facing up to 11 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 25, 2021.
