On June 14, 2024, three Romanian nationals were arrested for organized criminal activity and unlawful interception, use, or disclosure of wire, oral, or electronic communications (TX PC 16.02). The arrests followed an investigation led by the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center (TX FCIC).
The suspects are accused of placing credit card skimmers on automated teller machines (ATMs) in the Dallas and Tarrant County areas. They are also suspected in several skimmer investigations across multiple states.
The suspects allegedly used deep-insert skimmer devices to collect information from the magnetic strips on credit and debit cards, along with pinhole cameras to capture personal identification numbers (PINs) entered at ATMs. The stolen information could be used to create cloned cards, enabling the theft of money from victims' bank accounts.
The FCIC investigation recovered 26 deep-insert skimmer devices and parts to complete 13 more.
The arrested individuals are:
- Mihai Florin Marienscu (37)
- Nelu Nae (36)
- Mihai Vlaicu, aka Tibor Biro (47)
The investigation involved multiple agencies, including St. Louis Metropolitan (MO) District 2 Detectives, Euless (TX) Police Department Economic Crimes Unit, Dallas (TX) Police Department North Central Patrol Division CRT, Colleyville (TX) Police Department Special Investigations Unit, the United States Secret Service, and asset protection investigators from several retail partners.
