SEATTLE (AP) — A 35-year-old Romanian national has been sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $250,000 in restitution for his role in an international ring that stole bank account information through copying ATM cards.
Federal prosecutors in Seattle say Dan Petri and members of his ring made hundreds of fraudulent withdrawals from people’s accounts in 2010. For example, in one day the ring withdrew $29,000 from victims.
They say Petri’s ring would wire thousands of dollars back to Romania. In other occasions, members of the ring would send stolen bank information from Europe so Petri and other could get cash in the Seattle area.
Petri was arrested in December 2010 after a citizen reported seeing him and an associate milling about an ATM in Bothell. He’ll likely be deported after serving time in prison.
