Published Wednesday, April 4, 2012 | 1:59 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, April 4, 2012 | 3:31 p.m.
A federal indictment accuses 13 California residents of participating in an identity-theft scheme that employed electronic devices at ATMs around Las Vegas to illegally glean data from credit and debit cards.
The indictment was handed up March 13 in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas but remained sealed until Tuesday so that arrests could be made, federal officials said.
The indictment accuses the defendants of installing “skimmers” into exterior door readers at JP Morgan Chase bank branches around the valley. Swiping a bank or debit card though an exterior door reader allows customers after-hours access to the bank’s ATM. Defendants also installed a pinhole camera on the ATM pin pads to capture the account holders’ personal identification number (PIN), the indictment charges.
The skimmers captured account holders’ data, including account numbers, names and card expiration dates. The information, along with the PIN, allowed the defendants to manufacture and use counterfeit credit cards.
The office of Daniel Bogden, U.S. attorney for Nevada, announced the indictment, along with a warning to other would-be identity thieves, in a news release today.
“We are working vigilantly with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to identify, arrest and prosecute criminals who are stealing personal information and using it to manufacture counterfeit credit and debit cards,” Bogden said. “If you are involved in this type of criminal activity and are convicted, you are going to federal prison.”
The data, according to the indictment, was skimmed from bank and debit cards used at JP Morgan Chase ATMs on Sky Pointe Drive, West Flamingo Road, West Craig Road, West Sahara Avenue, South Fort Apache, Camino Al Norte, East Charleston Boulevard and South Rainbow Boulevard.
According to the indictment, the data thefts began in approximately November 2009 and continued through Nov. 4, 2011.
The indictment does not specify the estimated amount of loss.
The defendants, ranging in age from 21 to 44, are charged with one count of conspiracy and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Six defendants were arrested Tuesday in California, five were already in state custody on other charges, and two have not yet been arrested, the news release said.
Charged in the indictment were: Jacob Villanueva Jr., 34, Fontana, Calif.; Javier Panuco, 36, Los Angeles; Derek Anthony Salazar, 31, Riverside, Calif.; Daniel Miguel Castro, 44, Santa Fe Springs, Calif.; George Mario McKenna, 36, Norwalk, Calif.; Rolando Marquez; Vanessa Ruiz, 25, Colton, Calif.; Navaz Dowling, 34, currently in a halfway house in Greenville, S.C.; Luis Carlos Avila, 29, Fontana; Katie Arias, 24, Fontana, Calif.; Ronald Bowers, 21, San Bernardino, Calif.; Michael Sabicer, 34, Monterey Park, Calif.; and Corrine Ruelas, 33, Covina, Calif.
Initial court appearances will be scheduled in Las Vegas in the near future, the news release said.
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