Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Rogowski, who handled the case, stated that the defendant was charged as a result of his co-conspirator, Petar Petrov, being arrested on Sept. 2, 2013, as he entered the United States from Canada at the Lewiston Bridge. An alert Customs and Border Patrol officer found 10 counterfeit access devices in Petrov’s car. The devices were gift cards which had been altered by having legitimate credit card numbers imbedded in the magnetic strips on the back of the cards. Agents determined that all 10 cards were counterfeit.
Bandarmaliev and Petrov placed “skimming devices" on ATM’s in Canada to obtain account information. The scheme also involved the use of surreptitiously placed cameras to record the personal identification numbers (PINS) used by customers to transact business on ATM’s in Canada. The account information was then placed on the magnetic strips of various gift cards, creating counterfeit access devices. The defendant also used several counterfeit access devices in the Buffalo area between July and September of 2013 to withdraw money from various Canadian bank accounts.
Petrov was also convicted and sentenced to three months in prison.
The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of James C. Spero, Special Agent in Charge.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
