Romanian caught in Mumbai for ATM fraud being taken to Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 11: A Romanian man involved in stealing customers' money through electronic tampering of a State Bank of India ATM here is being brought back from Mumbai, where he was arrested.

A four-member Kerala Police team is returning here on Thursday evening with Gabriel Marian in custody. Marian has reportedly admitted to committing the crime, police said.

He and his friends were in Kerala last month and they are believed to have stayed in the state capital and beach destination in Kovalam.

The gang had placed an electronic equipment in a SBI kiosk, which enabled them to get the details of card holders who withdrew money from the ATM. Using this stolen data, they later withdrew money from Mumbai ATMs.

Marian was detained by the Mumbai police on Tuesday when he was withdrawing money from an ATM in Station Plaza.

He has said that his gang included three other Romanians, who have already left the country.

The Kerala Police has seized Rs 2,00,000 from his possession, a laptop and some electronic equipment.

The other three Romanians have already been identified and police are now probing whether they received any local help here or in Mumbai.

However, the investigators appear to have hit a wall as Marian refuses to cooperate.

Around 50 people had complained to the police following the heist. The total loss to the bank customers is estimated to be around Rs 2,50,000.

IANS