Four foreign nationals have admitted to participating in a scheme that compromised over 15,000 credit, debit, and Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom. The defendants used skimming devices to steal personal financial information from users of debit and credit cards. These devices were placed on retail point-of-sale terminals and ATMs at various financial institutions.
The investigation revealed that the scheme operated from May 2023 through February 2024 across several states including Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. In Rhode Island alone, more than 200 debit cards were compromised at two financial institutions resulting in unauthorized ATM withdrawals exceeding $280,000 from 67 customer accounts.
Robby Vicson Codreanu from the United Kingdom; Isabela Ignat Codreanu from Romania; Armando Ion Codreanu and Nicolas Longin Codreanu from Ireland have pleaded guilty to charges related to access device fraud and counterfeit access devices. Nicolas and Armando Codreanu also faced additional charges related to access devices issued to others.
Sentencing for Nicolas Codreanu is scheduled for October 14, 2025, while Isabella, Armando, and Robby Codreanu will be sentenced on October 21, 2025. The sentences will be determined by a federal district judge based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Two other defendants involved in the case are Ionut Zamfir and Mila Ciuciu from Romania who are awaiting trial.
Assistant United States Attorney Ronald R. Gendron is prosecuting the cases which were investigated by Homeland Security Investigations along with multiple police departments including Bristol Police Department among others.
