A man has been sentenced to six years and nine months in federal prison for his role in an ATM card-skimming scheme that targeted machines in Chicago and New Jersey. Florin Nicolae Tarta, 40, of Satu Mare, Romania, along with two accomplices, installed devices on several Bank of America ATMs. The equipment included a metallic plate fitted with a card reader, memory chip, and battery designed to capture account information from users’ cards. The group also placed a pinhole camera near the keypad to record customers entering their PINs.
After leaving the devices in place for several days, Tarta and his co-schemers retrieved them and used computers to transfer the stolen data onto magnetic strips on gift cards. These counterfeit cards were then used to withdraw cash at various banks. The total loss from unauthorized transactions amounted to $177,280.
The operation ended in March 2024 when law enforcement found one of the hidden cameras on an ATM in Westfield, New Jersey. Tarta was arrested upon returning to the scene.
Earlier this year, a jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago convicted Tarta on charges including bank fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt handed down the sentence on September 10, 2025.
Two co-defendants pleaded guilty previously: Leonid Grigore Smetanca of Satu Mare received three and a half years in prison; Radu Farcas of London was sentenced to two and a half years.
Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office announced the sentences. The Westfield Police Department assisted with the investigation.
“Defendant repeatedly engaged in criminal conduct that imposes an enormous toll on the U.S. economy,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Hayes argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum in Tarta’s case. “Card skimming is a widespread problem plaguing financial institutions and consumers.”
