Two alleged members of a Romanian organised crime gang flew to Sydney in an attempt to steal up to $3.75 million from the bank accounts of hundreds of people, police claim.
Alexandru Dida, 40, and Dinu Lonut Dinca, 43, will face Sutherland Local Court on Thursday over an elaborate transnational card-skimming scheme, which allegedly involved cloning local debit cards.
The scheme had the potential to withdraw up to $3.75 million from the bank accounts of innocent Sydneysiders, police said.Credit: Paul Jeffers
Police arrested the two men and conducted a search warrant at Wolli Creek in Sydney’s south on Wednesday about 4.45pm, where they say they found an active skimming device, allegedly in the process of embedding details onto nearly 1500 blank credit cards.
Police said the cards had the potential to hold approximately $3,712,500 worth of funds skimmed from ATMs.
Detectives also found electronic devices allegedly containing a list of thousands of bank customers’ details with accompanying PIN codes.
Police also searched another address in Wolli Creek while carrying out a second warrant and found $50,000 cash, electronics, passports, designer handbags, designer shoes, and designer watches.
The pair were taken to St George Police Station and charged with multiple offences relating to financial crime.
Financial Crimes Squad commander Detective Superintendent Gordon Arbinja said the arrests came following a collaboration with international agencies.
“It’s our job at the Financial Crime Squad to make sure anyone who thinks they can help themselves to other people’s hard-earned cash is dealt with accordingly,” he said.
“We will continue to work alongside our counterparts at the AFP, United States Secret Service, and various international authorities, to ensure fraudsters know they aren’t welcome in Australia.”
