Mihai Camara loses appeal over scams in Forest Hill, Dingley Village

He stole customers’ bank details by planting cameras and skimming devices in ATMs across Melbourne’s east, but Mihai Camara tried to argue his jail sentence was excessive.

Camara has lost an appeal to reduce his sentence for scamming customers at ATMs.

A man who stole customers’ bank details by planting cameras and skimming devices in several ATMs across the eastern suburbs has failed to have his jail sentence reduced.

Mihai Camara was found to have nearly 150 hours of video footage of people using ATMs in Forest Hill and Dingley Village along with the users’ card details and PINs when he was arrested by police, the Supreme Court heard.

The 38-year-old Romanian national, who obtained the data by repeatedly installing pinhole cameras and skimming devices at the teller machines, went before the Court of Appeal to argue the four-year jail sentence he received was “manifestly excessive”.

Camara planted camera and skimming devices in several NAB ATMs.

He was handed the sentence, which came with a non-parole period of two years and six months, in March after he pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to defraud, for which the maximum penalty is 15 years’ jail.

The court heard Camara conspired with his brother-in-law to fraudulently access bank accounts, but only got as far as retrieving customers’ information before he was arrested at a Docklands apartment in August 2017.

Police caught Camara after he installed a skimming device and a pinhole camera at a NAB ATM on Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn early on April 5, 2017.

Customers using the ATM later that day reported their card getting stuck in the machine, before a repair technician found the skimming device.

A repair technician found one of the devices in a Hawthorn ATM.

When Camara was arrested over the incident, police found he had 147 hours of video footage from ATMs in Forest Hill and Dingley Village along with card data and PINs.

A NAB investigation revealed the Forest Hill machine had been targeted on July 20 and 21, 2017, and the Dingley Village machine from July 18 to 21, 2017, with devices installed twice at each location.

The court heard the skimming device captured customers’ card details, which the offender paired with the PIN data obtained from the video footage.

“The details are copied in to what are described as blank or cloned cards. That card is then used together with the pin.”

Camara told the Court of Appeal his sentence for his level of offending was excessive in comparison to two other fraud-related cases.

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But Justice Emilios Kyrou ruled the initial sentence “was just” on September 20.

“The offending is serious,” he said.

“It has the potential to undermine confidence in our banking system and to inflict financial hardship upon innocent members of the community whose funds are stolen.”

Judge Kyrou said the offending was planned and researched and Camara’s involvement had been “fulsome”.

He noted Camara had obtained the skimming device, as well as installed it, and that the only explanation for the crime was greed.

The court heard the sentencing judge had given weight to Camara’s guilty plea and lack of criminal history, which meant less focus on prioritising specific deterrence resulted in the ruling.

It was noted Camara would likely be deported after completing his sentence.