45°
FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. A 21-year-old woman was sentenced to 45 months in prison for her role in an ATM skimming scheme that targeted banks in Fairfield County and elsewhere, according to U.S. Attorney David B. Fein.
Gabriella Graham, of New London, pleaded guilty on Dec. 19, 2011, to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. She was sentenced Thursday in New Haven by Federal Judge Janet Bond Arterton to the jail term as well as three years of supervised release. Her co-conspirators, Mehmet Aydin and Ahmet Cilek, have both pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
About 500 bank accounts were plundered in the scheme, in which $336,057 was taken. Graham and her co-defendants were ordered to make full restitution of the money.
Fein said in a release that between February 2011 and July 2011 skimming devices were installed on automated teller machines at 11 banks and one credit union in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The devices captured information from customers' bank cards, and hidden cameras were used to record PIN numbers. The stolen information was used to create counterfeit bank cards.
Graham helped produce the fake cards, wrote pin numbers on the backs and used the cards to make unauthorized withdrawals. She also served as a lookout while her co-conspirators installed and removed the skimming devices and made other withdrawals.
The Greenwich and Darien police departments participating in the investigation.
Click here to follow Daily Voice New Canaan and receive free news updates.
