ST. LOUIS – Two foreign nationals are behind bars following an alleged ATM skimming operation in St. Louis. Investigators say the duo stole $400,000 over the course of nine months.
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office charged Dan-constantin Olteana-Ursachi, 35, and Stelicia-Aurelian Dajbog, 47, with more than 30 felonies each amid the investigation, mostly with charges listed as illegal use of a card scanner.
According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, the duo’s alleged operation is similar to various crimes committed across the country by Romani criminal groups. The FOX Files reported of a similar scheme that targeted the St. Louis region in June, though apparently tied to two different suspects.
Court documents state that Olteana-Ursachi and Dajbog were caught on surveillance video inserting a card scanner device into an ATM at an undisclosed location in St. Louis on or around September 6. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department served a warrant on Tuesday, September 17, which led to their arrests.
Police said the duo reportedly rented a home locally as a base of operation, though court documents list a shared address in the suburbs of the Seattle–Tacoma metro area. While searching the St. Louis residence, police found at least 16 cards that were reprogrammed with credit or debit card information taken from card scanners. Authorities also found ten devices used to collect victims’ card information and pin codes, five chips designed to read bar codes of victims’ cards, and one re-encoder device to reprogram gift cards with credit and debit card information of victims.
The duo deposited around $400,000 in cash over nine months, per court documents.
Court documents further state that Olteana-Ursachi may be linked with the name of Dan-Constantin Caraza, whom authorities accuse of running over a 65-year-old cyclist and killing him while operating a cement mixer in the United Kingdom.
Both suspects were described as flight risks in court documents, leading the St. Louis Circuit Court to order both held without bond.
