Four foreign nationals illegally present in the United States have admitted to a federal judge in Rhode Island that they participated in a scheme that compromised more than 15,000 credit, debit, and Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and that they made hundreds of thousands of dollars in unauthorized bank withdrawals and retail purchases, announced Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.
The defendants admitted to using credit card “skimming” devices to steal personal financial account information from debit and credit card users, which they then used for their benefit. Skimming devices were placed on retail outlet point-of-sale terminals and ATMs at various financial institutions
An investigation revealed that from May 2023 through February 2024, the defendants compromised more than 15,000 bank cards and gained users’ personal financial account information by placing card skimming devices on point-of-sale terminals at various locations of major retailers and on ATMs of various financial institutions in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.
In Rhode Island, more than 200 debit cards were compromised at two Rhode Island financial institutions, resulting in over $280,000 of unauthorised ATM withdrawals from 67 customer accounts.
Robby Vicson Codreanu, 21, a citizen of the United Kingdom; Isabela Ignat Codreanu, 24, a citizen of Romania; and Armando Ion Codreanu, 24, and Nicolas Longin Codreanu, 23, citizens of Ireland, each pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit access device fraud; producing, using and trafficking in counterfeit access devices; accessing fifteen or more counterfeit and unauthorized access devices; and access device making equipment.
Nicolas and Armando Codreanu also pleaded guilty to a charge of accessing devices issued to another person.
Nicolas Codreanu will be sentenced on October 14, 2025. Isabella, Armando, and Robby Codreanu are scheduled to be sentenced on October 21, 2025. The sentences imposed will be determined by a federal district judge, who will consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Two other defendants, Ionut Zamfir, 38, and Mila Ciuciu, 21, both Romanian citizens, are awaiting trial.
