A Romanian national residing illegally in the United States has been sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison for bank fraud, according to Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom. Mario Demarco, also known as Marius Lupu and David Adamec, was described in court documents as an "undeterred serial scammer" responsible for defrauding hundreds of banking customers.
Demarco, 30, pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy sentenced him to 33 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release. He is also required to pay $16,567.06 in restitution and will face deportation proceedings after serving his sentence.
An immigration detainer has been lodged by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Court documents revealed that from October 2022, Demarco traveled across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions installing skimming devices on ATMs. These devices captured debit card information from hundreds of customers which he used to create fraudulent debit cards for unauthorized transactions.
Demarco installed skimming devices on at least ten ATMs and compromised a minimum of 952 cards. He owes restitution to fifteen different banks.
Assistant United States Attorneys Taylor A. Dean and Ly T. Chin prosecuted the case with investigations conducted by Homeland Security Investigations. Assistance came from police departments across Warwick, Cranston, East Greenwich, North Kingstown, East Providence (RI), Boston (MA), New York City (NY), and Stratford (CT).
