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Press Release

Identity Fraudster Pleads Guilty in Miami Federal Court

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida

Miami, Florida – A 30-year-old Romanian national pled guilty this week to his role in an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) “skimming” fraud scheme.

From in or about January of 2015, until in or about February of 2015, Alin Bambaloi and his co-conspirators used portable card-reading devices and miniature cameras to steal account information from bank customers using ATMs. With the stolen information re-encoded blank plastic cards or gift cards with the legitimate bank customers’ account information and then made unauthorized withdrawals from the customers’ accounts. As a result of this fraud scheme, there were 195 reported fraud loss cases and approximately $128,064 in losses.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, United States Attorney, Southern District of Florida, and Robert DeWitt, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami Field Office, made the announcement. 

The case was indicted in 2016.  Bambaloi was a fugitive until December 20, 2021, when he was apprehended in Texas and later transferred to the Southern District of Florida for prosecution.

Bambaloi pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349, and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A. He faces a maximum term of 32 years’ imprisonment. His sentencing is currently scheduled for November 4, before U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom.

FBI Miami investigated this case. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cynthia Wood and Adam Hapner.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Klco is handling asset forfeiture related to the matter.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 16-cr-60260.

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Contact

Public Affairs Unit
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Florida
USAFLS.News@usdoj.gov

Updated August 25, 2022

Topic
Identity Theft