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Date: 03-03-2023
Case Style:
United States of America v. Catalin Puscasu
Case Number: 7:21-cr-00024
Judge: Micahel F. Urbanski
Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia (Roanoke County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office in Roanoke
Defendant's Attorney:
Description: Roanoke, Virginia criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Between December 2018 and March 2019, Catalin Puscasu, age 40, and others worked together to obtain personal identifying information, including debit and credit card numbers as well as PINs from bank customers and used that data to make unauthorized cash withdrawals from the accounts of these victims and use the victims’ credit for their personal gain.
Specifically, this group used “skimming devices” installed on ATMs at federally-insured banks throughout the Western District of Virginia to steal customers’ PINS and account numbers using small hidden cameras. They then took this information, re-encoded it onto blank cards, and used those cards to withdraw money.
In March 2019, Puscasu was arrested in Michigan for committing similar offenses. After serving 36 months in prison in the Eastern District of Michigan, he was returned to the Western District of Virginia to be sentenced for his fraudulent activity in and around the Roanoke area.
In addition to prison time, Puscasu was also ordered to pay restitution to the impacted banks.
United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh made the announcement.
The United States Secret Service, the Botetourt County Sheriff’s Office, the Roanoke County Police Department, the Campbell County Police Department, the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, the Farmville Police Department, the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office, the Blacksburg Police Department, and the Lynchburg Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Coleman Adams prosecuted the case.
18:371.F - CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD THE UNITED STATES - 18:371 - Conspiracy - March 2019
(1)
Outcome: CBOP 18 months; SA $100.00; REST $190,111.84 J/S
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: