Oct 8, 2018 3 min read

South Strabane Township police have arrested a Romanian national for his alleged role in a “card skimming” scheme used to steal money from the accounts of customers of at least two banks in the township, as well as in other municipalities.

Elvis Roman, 33, who has no known address, was initially arraigned as “John Doe” before District Judge Gary Havelka on charges of access device fraud and theft by deception after he was picked up Saturday by Peters Township police, who determined that one of the two vehicles involved in the thefts last month was at S&T Bank, 3402 Washington Road. Peters police detained Roman after a traffic stop.

“I have to give my hats-off to Peters police, who were able to swiftly take him into custody,” said South Strabane Detective Sgt. Ken Torboli. “He wouldn’t be in custody without their heads-up actions.”

“Card skimming” usually happens when a device is placed on an ATM machine that is undetected by the user. The user’s card information is captured when they use a compromised machine.

Police were notified last week of the unauthorized transactions from Washington Financial bank branches in South Strabane, Peters, North Franklin Township and Washington using a skimming device that was placed on the ATMs. Bank officials confirmed to police that there were 255 unauthorized transactions for a loss of about $49,000, according to court records.

South Strabane and Peters police worked together, along with the U.S. Secret Service. Video surveillance was reviewed, showing two men using cloned bank cards that contained the compromised account information. One drove a dark Jeep sport utility vehicle, while the other drove a dark Nissan sport utility vehicle. Using a license plate reader, one of the vehicles was identified and determined to be in the Peters area Saturday.

“The assistance from Washington Financial Bank in a timely manner was crucial to provide information about the suspects’ vehicles,” Torboli said.

Police said Roman had an identification card from Denmark, identifying him as 31-year-old Emil Larsen. He later reportedly told Torboli that he was in the United States illegally. The man identified as Roman allegedly admitted to using cloned cards to make unauthorized withdrawals from multiple ATMs. He would then mail cash to others involved in the schemes, police said. He also allegedly admitted to stealing the registration plate found on the vehicle he had rented in Ohio.

Torboli will be getting a search warrant for the vehicle.

“We are very fortunate he is in custody,” Torboli said. “Usually they travel through and hit banks. Being we are right next to Interstates 70 and 79, it is an area where they can jump off the highway, use the cards and then move on.”

Last week, Washington Financial Bank notified affected customers that they would be receiving new cards and would be reimbursed for any losses to their accounts.

Elizabeth Guerrieri, vice president of marketing and public relations manager for Washington Financial Bank, said they were alerted by police Saturday night.

“We are very pleased with the work of our local law enforcement group that has put in endless hours and worked so diligently to apprehend one of the suspects,” Guerrieri said.

Havelka set bond at $10,000. An immigration detainer also was placed on Roman.