Romanian couple Alexandru Vasile Badaric and Izabela Vintala landed in Australia with the goal of extending a criminal syndicate that had been busted by authorities in the United States.
Badaric, 34, and Vintala, 33, exited the plane at Sydney Airport in April 2023, harbouring plans to defraud Australians out of tens of thousands of dollars by installing “shimming” devices on Sydney and Melbourne ATMs.
Alexandru Vasile Badaric has been jailed for an elaborate card shimming scam at ATMs.
Card shimming is the act of illegally capturing data from debit and credit card microchips by attaching a small electronic device to an ATM and allowing a counterfeit card to be made. It is different from card skimming, which involves devices collecting data from magnetic stripes and storing card PINs.
Late last month, the couple were jailed for their elaborate scam, which Badaric led.
Documents released by the NSW District Court reveal how Badaric used fake identities to open bank accounts and transfer thousands of dollars from unsuspecting ATM customers to himself, with Vintala’s help.
The facts state that in May 2023, Badaric opened bank accounts with Westpac, St George, HSBC, ANZ and NAB using a false passport with his photo and a fake name, Cestmir Bozdech. He falsely told some banks he worked as a sales manager for Audi Australia.
Between June and July, three packages purporting to be car MP5 players or display screens, but actually containing shimming devices, arrived from London to three separate addresses in Brisbane and Melbourne.
They were addressed to the fake name Vimila Isbela but linked to Vintala’s mobile number.
The couple travelled from Sydney to pick up each of the packages and returned to embark on their card-shimming spree.
CCTV footage captured Badaric installing a shimming device at the NAB ATM in World Square on three separate dates in June. He was seen removing the device on June 19.
Westpac, CBA, ANZ and NAB were all targeted in the identity fraud.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
The next month, Badaric was caught on CCTV footage installing a shimming device which Vintala handed to him at an NAB ATM in Chinatown. The next day, an NAB worker found and removed the device.
The couple also installed a shimming device at Bendigo Bank ATM in Earlwood, Melbourne, which was also found by a bank employee and later seized by police.
Between May and August, nine bank accounts in the name of Badaric or his fake identity were used to transfer money, with $22,495 in credit transactions and $22,164 in debit transactions recorded.
Most transactions followed the pattern of Badaric depositing funds into an ATM and then transferring those funds internationally to his bank accounts in Romania, the facts show.
The pair’s undoing came on August 4, 2023, when the Australian Federal police searched their home in Rhodes in Sydney’s inner west. The couple weren’t home, but were seen driving out of the property in a Kia rental car later that day.
In the rental car, police found about $13,000 in cash as well as several fraudulent driver’s licences, passports, credit cards, shimming devices and card readers.
They also discovered card-reading software on Badarc’s laptop. The court heard the $13,000 found in the car, plus about $1000 in ATM deposits and $22,000 in bank transactions were all proceeds from the card-shimming scam.
Strengthening the case against the couple was evidence from US authorities. They had arrested Romanian nationals withdrawing cash from ATMs using cloned card details, and discovered a consignment of shimming devices that were en route to Australia and linked to Badaric.
Badaric pleaded guilty to a raft of charges including possessing identification information with the intention to commit fraud, dealing with the proceeds of an indictable crime worth more than $10,000, and dishonestly obtaining or dealing in personal financial information.
He was jailed for four years and two months with a non-parole period of two years and six months. He will be eligible for parole on February 3, 2026.
Vintala pleaded guilty to possessing a thing used to obtain or deal in personal information, dealing with the proceeds of an indictable crime worth more than $10,000, dishonestly obtaining or dealing in personal financial information, and attempting to commit an offence.
She was sentenced to two years and six months’ prison, with the remainder of the term to be suspended and served in the form of a recognisance release order in the community from February 3, 2025.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.