Second Woman Pleads Guilty in ATM Skimming Case

A second woman has pled guilty to participating in that struck the at Goodwives Shopping Center.

Nadia Pasici, 49, admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud on Friday before U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford.

According to prosecutors, Pasici — a Romanian citizen living in Middle Village, N.Y. — conspired in March and April of last year to install devices on ATMs and card swipe access machines at several branches of People's United Bank. The devices capture information on the magnetic strips of bank cards.

Pasici and other co-conspirators also installed hidden cameras to capture cardholders' PINs, prosecutors said, allowing them to make withdrawals in Greenwich, Stamford, and Darien using counterfeit versions of the cards. 

On April 22, Pasici was arrested at the People's United branch in Darien after the Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force was alerted to activity on a counterfeit card first used in Greenwich. Darien police assisted in the arrest.

Sabrina Matache, 22, and Laura Stiuca, 32 — also Romanian citizens — were taken into custody at the same time. The three were indicted last month by a federal grand jury along with Ion Constantin, 33, who reportedly directed the women to use a pin-capturing device in Greenwich.

Matache pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in March.

At the time of the arrests, the women reportedly had $2000 in cash on them, as well as handwritten notes with addresses of People’s United locations, 12 fake debit cards, and other tools used in the scheme.

The three women were initially charged with third-degree larceny, third-degree identity theft, fraudulent use of ATM, second-degree forgery, credit card theft, unlawful possession of access device, receiving goods by use of illegal credit card, unlawful production/completion of a credit card and illegal use of a credit card.

Pasici, whose sentencing is scheduled for June 24, faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years and a fine of up to $1 million. Matache is also awaiting sentencing.