NBC 10 I-Team: Suspects linked to ATM skimming scheme in Rhode Island and other states
by BRIAN CRANDALL, NBC 10 NEWS
Two men face state and federal charges for allegedly inserting ATM skimmers at banks and credit unions in Rhode Island and other areas along the East Coast.
In an affidavit unsealed Monday in the federal court system, a Homeland Security agent says there’s evidence that ties Mario DeMarco, aka David Adamec, and Stefano Garioli, aka Leon Vutkus, to skimming incidents at several banks over a two-year period.
Investigators are still working to confirm their true identities.
Additional court documents indicate DeMarco was arrested earlier this week in New York. He’s been ordered returned to Rhode Island to face charges. Garioli is also in federal custody, NBC 10 News has learned. A full federal complaint against the men remains sealed.
Both face charges of conspiracy, bank fraud and identity theft.
In the federal affidavit, a Homeland Security agent said surveillance video from July 3 shows the men attempting to insert a “deep insert” skimming device in an ATM at Coastal1 Credit Union on Post Road in Warwick.
A manager there noticed the suspicious activity while viewing security video, according to court documents.
Police then linked skimming incidents at other local banks to the suspects.
The suspects and their vehicle were captured on surveillance video at neighboring businesses. The car was identified as a rental, and with Flock cameras, was traced to other communities including North Scituate; Brooklyn, New York; and Plainville and West Haven in Connecticut between June 21 and July 3.
Days later, Warwick police detectives found the suspects and their car at the Coastal1 Credit Union in Cranston and took both into custody. They confiscated a stack of 28 debit and gift cards with notations of apparent PIN codes and bank names. Eighteen of the cards contained account information for Coastal1 Credit Union customers.
After obtaining a search warrant for the rental car, prosecutors said Warwick police found skimming devices and multiple cell phones.
Warwick police learned surveillance video had captured the two suspects inserting what appeared to be a skimmer into a Coastal1 Credit Union ATM in East Greenwich.
Rhode Island state court records from July indicate DeMarco and Garioli were charged in connection to cases in Warwick, East Greenwich, and North Kingstown. The records indicate both were released on bond at the time.
Surveillance video also appears to link the suspects to the discovery of skimmers and hidden cameras on ATMs at Navigant Credit Union branches in Woonsocket, Warren and East Providence.
The men are also suspected of making dozens of fraudulent withdrawals and attempted withdrawals from Washington Trust ATMs in Cranston and East Providence.
Prosecutors said a skimming device discovered in March in an ATM at a Santander Bank branch in East Providence was later discovered to have DeMarco’s fingerprint on it.
The affidavit indicated the suspects may also be involved in placing skimming devices in ATMS in Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, since March 2023. Some of those investigations are ongoing.
Authorities in New York say the two men are suspects in numerous similar investigations in New York in 2022 and 2023, and had previously been arrested in North Haven, Connecticut.