Nicholas J. Ganjei United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas | U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas
A Romanian man and woman residing illegally in Houston have confessed to their involvement in an ATM skimming scheme, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Perla Miclescu, 26, and Rafael Rafaila, 21, both Romanian nationals, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. In April 2024, they installed skimmers on ATMs in the Houston area to capture debit and credit card information through magnetic strips. The stolen data was stored on a computer chip attached to the device after unsuspecting users inserted their cards into the machines.
The initial incident took place on April 4, 2024. Security footage from a Houston bank showed Ana Maria Dirman, 30, and Mihai Alexandru Gaita, 38—both also from Romania—installing a skimmer into an ATM card reader while driving a 2004 Ford Explorer.
Further investigation linked this vehicle to two other banks in Baytown about two weeks later. Both locations had deep insert skimmers and pinhole cameras placed on their ATMs.
Law enforcement later found Miclescu and Rafaila with the same Explorer. A search uncovered two overlay pinhole camera devices, supplies for making these cameras, 24 counterfeit credit cards (reencoded), and one deep insert skimmer.
Authorities learned that Miclescu purchased super glue, two 32G Micro SD cards, and scissors—all items used in ATM skimming activities.
On April 5 and April 7 of the same year, Miclescu and Rafaila were seen operating a gold-colored minivan as they installed additional skimming devices on ATMs.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake accepted their pleas and scheduled sentencing for August 15. Until then, Miclescu and Rafaila will remain in custody.
Gaita has also pleaded guilty with his sentencing set for August 15. Meanwhile, Dirman remains at large with an outstanding warrant for her arrest. Individuals with information about her whereabouts are urged to contact the United States Secret Service Houston Field office at (713) 868-2299.
The investigation involved police departments from Houston and Baytown along with the Texas Financial Crimes Intel Center and Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Day is handling the prosecution of this case.
