Ionel Tomescu Baldovin, a 28-year-old Romanian national, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for his involvement in a bank fraud conspiracy. This scheme targeted two financial institutions in the Northern District of New York and several others across the United States. The announcement was made by United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the FBI.
Baldovin had previously pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to install skimming devices and cameras on ATMs at various financial institutions. These devices captured customers' account information and PINs, which were then used to create fraudulent debit cards for withdrawing funds from customer accounts. Baldovin's activities took place between October 2017 and April 2018, resulting in losses exceeding $450,000 for the financial institutions involved.
United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby ordered Baldovin to pay $454,447 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
In a related case from 2019, four other Romanian nationals were involved in a similar skimming scheme affecting over 500 accounts at a Northern District of New York financial institution. Each defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.
Laurentiu Florian Iancu received a sentence of 48 months incarceration with three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $169,075 in restitution. Florin Nicolae Mares was sentenced to 51 months incarceration with two years of supervised release, also paying $169,075 in restitution. Liviu Samuel Anca received a sentence of 40 months incarceration with three years supervised release along with an order for $169,075 restitution.
Teodor Claudiu Stan was sentenced to 81 months incarceration with four years supervised release and ordered to pay over $675,000 in restitution. Stan admitted his involvement not only in the 2019 conspiracy but also in broader activities through 2022 involving additional skimming device placements across eight more financial institutions nationwide.
U.S. Attorney Sarcone commended federal and local partners for their efforts: “We commend our federal and local partners for their diligent work in developing these important investigations into strong cases that held multiple defendants accountable for their conduct.”
FBI Special Agent Tremaroli emphasized law enforcement's commitment: “This sentence is the direct result of the commitment by our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue and charge those who willingly defraud our citizens and financial institutions."
These cases were investigated by various agencies including the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York State Police, Endicott Police Department as well as other local police departments outside Northern District NY; prosecution led by Assistant United States Attorney Kristen Grabowski.
