Seven people were charged by Indictment with conspiracy, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft related to the operation of credit card skimmers at gas stations, including an Exxon station in Newark.
Those charged are Hamlet Tantushyan, 35, of Glendale, CA; Verzh Movsisyan, 41, of Glendale, CA; Armen Sahakyan, 41, of Burbank, CA; David Daldumyan, 29, of Van Nuys, CA; Hrchya Gyulumyan, 39, of Sun Valley, CA; Gevush Gabrielyan, 27, of North Hollywood, CA; and Roman Gridjusko, 30, of Philadelphia, PA.
The sevenc defendants were charged for their alleged involvement in a scheme to steal money from victims’ bank accounts by making fraudulent ATM withdrawals and money order purchases in multiple states with stolen debit card numbers.
The victims’ debit card numbers were obtained by members of the scheme through installed devices on gas station pumps, known as ‘skimmers’, that captured the victims’ debit card numbers and Personal Identification Numbers when they used debit cards at gas stations to purchase gas.
Suspects face possible sentences as great as 187 years.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Philadelphia Organized Crime Task Force, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the United States Secret Service, the Newark Police Department and other agencies.
