3 Romanian nationals arrested in Dallas, accused of ATM skimmer scheme, officials say

Three men with ties to Romania were arrested last week in Dallas and are accused of participating in an ATM skimming operation in North Texas, authorities say.

Authorities identified the three men as: Mihai Florin Marinescu, 37; Nelu Nae, 36; and Mihai Vlaicu, 47. All three were at the Tarrant County jail Thursday afternoon, online records showed.

John Haecker, a Euless police detective who was one of the investigators on the case, said arrest warrants for the three men were based on two skimmers that were installed on ATMs in Tarrant County. Authorities later found a third skimmer at a bank, Haecker told The Dallas Morning News.

“We are not aware of any skimmers being placed outside of Tarrant County,” Haecker said. “We’ve done a pretty exhaustive search to find additional locations.”

Authorities arrested the trio about 2:30 a.m. June 14in Old East Dallas at a short-term rental property in the 5300 block of Ash Lane, he said. Investigators found more skimming devices at a storage unit near the rental property, Haecker said.

Haecker declined to say which specific locations in Tarrant County authorities found skimmers, but added that none were in Euless.

The investigation was spurred by the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center, a partnership between the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and the Smith County District Attorney’s Office, according to a Tuesday news release.

The three men used a combination of “deep-insert” skimmers — which are harder to detect — and pinhole cameras to steal personal identification numbers.

“The information captured by these deep-insert skimmers can be used to create hundreds of cloned debit or credit cards, ultimately stealing money out of the victims’ bank accounts,” the release stated.

Authorities found dozens of illicit devices used for credit card skimming as part of the investigation.

Haecker said the three men are “probably part of a larger ring.”

Each man is accused of engaging in organized criminal activity. Additionally, Marinescu and Nae are accused of unlawful interception, use, or disclosure of wire, oral, or electronic communications, online records showed.

As of about 7 p.m. Tuesday, Marinescu and Nae’s bail had been set at $105,000, and Vlaicu’s total bail is $95,000, online records showed.