Prison for International Credit Card Fraud Kingpin

Two Dublin residents who are believed to be members of a Romanian-organized cybercrime gang were imprisoned in Ireland today for credit card fraud. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Daniel Almajanu and Albert Gimy Linul were “considered to be members” of a Romanian criminal gang that had made millions of dollars by running an extensive card-skimming operation in the UK.

Gang members stole victims’ credit card information by installing a “deep insert skimmer” on various HSBC ATM outlets. The skimmers read the details of each card as it was inserted and also fed the stolen data back to the gang.

Thirty-five-year-old Almajanu used the stolen data and a card reader/writer machine to create clones of the compromised credit cards. The cloned cards were then passed to 29-year-old Linul, who used them to buy items.

On multiple occasions, Linul bought cartons of cigarettes from several newsagents around Dublin, which were then sold on for profit.

Sentencing and Implications

Judge Melanie Greally said evidence submitted to the court showed that the offenses committed by the two men “represent an offshoot of an organized and also sophisticated international fraud.”

Greally said that Almajanu had played a “pivotal organizational role” in the scam and was also responsible for recruiting Linul into the operation.

A search of Linul’s Prussia Street residence revealed a credit card reader/writer. And also a laptop containing the details of over a thousand credit cards from which Almajanu and Linul could have stolen over $6m.

In a landmark judgment, the court sentenced the credit card fraud kingpin to a lengthy prison term. Ensuring that they would no longer pose a threat to innocent victims and financial institutions. The severity of the sentence reflects the gravity of their crimes. And serves as a powerful deterrent to potential cybercriminals.

Almajanu, who has four convictions in Romania and was previously deported from the UK after serving two years in prison there for fraud, was sentenced to four years and four months in prison by Greally. Also, The judge sentenced Linul to three years in prison.

The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau said Almajanu was the target of law enforcement investigations in Belgium, the UK. And Romania were the focus of Europol and Interpol.