United States Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan announced today, June 2, 2008, that Romulus Pasca, a Romanian national who was living in Canada at the time of the offense, pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft.

Pasca, age 39, pleaded guilty to two counts before United States District Judge Nora Barry Fischer.

In connection with the guilty plea, Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway advised the court that Pasca participated in a Bank Fraud and Identity Theft scheme that spanned several states, including Ohio, Illinois, New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, among others.  As part of the scheme, Pasca and his co-conspirators placed skimming devices on Automated Teller Machines, along with remote cameras.  The skimming devices captured the information from customers' ATM cards, and the remote cameras captured the customers' personal identification numbers.  Pasca and his co-conspirators used the fraudulently obtained information to manufacture counterfeit ATM cards, and traveled from state to state using the counterfeit ATM cards and fraudulently obtained personal identification numbers to withdraw funds from customers' accounts.

Pasca and one of his co-conspirators, Vasile Ciocan, were arrested by officers from the Monroeville Police Department on April 13, 2007, when a concerned citizen noticed them acting suspiciously and attempting numerous transactions at ATM machines.  An investigation by the Monroeville Police Department led to the discovery of dozens of counterfeit ATM cards and thousands of dollars on the persons of Pasca and Ciocan.  Further investigation led to the discovery of hundreds of other counterfeit ATM cards associated with the scheme.  Ciocan previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 61 months of incarceration and five years of supervised release.

Judge Fisher scheduled sentencing for August 29, 2008.  The law provides for a total sentence of 32 years in prison, a fine of $1,250,000, or both.  Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

The Financial Crimes Task Force of Southwestern Pennsylvania, the Monroeville Police Department, federal, state and local law enforcement officials in other states, and Canadian law enforcement officials conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Pasca.  The Financial Crimes Task Force of Southwestern Pennsylvania is comprised of United States Postal Inspectors, Special Agents of the United States Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Investigators from the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, and Detectives from Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh.