Gheorghe Nistor
Introduction
Gheorghe Nistor is a 44-year-old national of Romania who was sentenced on October 6, 2026, to 45 months’ imprisonment for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft — the sentence that closed out an ATM-skimming operation he ran with a co-defendant across New York and other states, in which the pair installed hidden devices on bank machines and fraudulently withdrew approximately $191,983 from the accounts of more than 190 accountholders. The sentence was announced by First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Albany Field Office.
Background Information
As part of his prior guilty plea, Nistor admitted that between approximately April and August 2024, he and his co-defendant, Radu-Lucien Grigoras, installed skimming devices and pinhole cameras on ATMs belonging to financial institutions, including in Onondaga County and Cayuga County in New York and in other states. The skimming devices surreptitiously recorded the debit card information of cards inserted by unsuspecting customers, while the pinhole cameras recorded each customer entering their PIN. Nistor further admitted that the stolen card information was encoded onto the magnetic strips of other cards, which he used in combination with the stolen PINs to make cash withdrawals from ATMs.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Convicted and sentenced. Nistor pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft and was sentenced on October 6, 2026, to 45 months’ imprisonment. The conduct admitted in the plea spanned approximately April through August 2024.
The mechanics of the scheme were industrial rather than opportunistic: two men equipping bank machines with a card skimmer and a camera, harvesting both the card data and the PINs of every customer who used the compromised ATM, then re-encoding the stolen numbers onto blank cards and draining accounts across multiple states. Over the roughly five-month admitted window, the operation reached more than 190 accountholders and produced about $191,983 in fraudulent withdrawals — an average of roughly a thousand dollars taken per victimized account.
Aggravated identity theft — the count built on stealing real customers’ card credentials — carries a mandatory consecutive sentence under federal law, which is why the total reached 45 months for a first-admitted fraud scheme of this size. The case files document the hardware as well as the takings: skimming devices fitted to machines in Onondaga and Cayuga counties and beyond, and the cameras positioned to capture each PIN.
Public Reaction and Consequences
Announcing the sentence, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarcone thanked state and local partners and said, “ATM skimming is not a victimless crime. It is calculated theft that preys on hardworking people and threatens the security of our entire financial system,” adding, “This defendant chose to come into this country and steal from members of our community. Now, he’s paying the price. If you come into our community to steal from our citizens, you will be caught.” FBI Albany SAC Tremaroli’s office joined the announcement, crediting the investigation that traced the devices and the withdrawals.
The consequences for Nistor are a 45-month federal prison term and a conviction record for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft — the latter a designation that marks him as having stolen the financial identities of ordinary bank customers. The announcement does not describe restitution or removal proceedings, both standard follow-ons in skimming cases involving foreign nationals; co-defendant Grigoras’s disposition is not addressed in the sentencing release.
Current Status
Nistor, 44, is serving a 45-month sentence imposed October 6, 2026, following his guilty plea to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, with the conduct admitted in the plea covering approximately April through August 2024. The 190-plus accountholders whose cards were skimmed form the victim base of the adjudicated scheme. The release does not state a designated facility or a supervised-release term, and no separate state charges are described.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Nistor’s five-month skimming run in 2024 cost him 45 months in a federal prison — nine times the length of the scheme that produced it — and a felony record in two categories, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, that follow any non-citizen through the immigration system. For the more than 190 customers whose cards and PINs his devices harvested, the case closes with the announcement language that framed it: calculated theft that preys on hardworking people. His plea and sentence are now part of the Northern District of New York’s record on transnational ATM-skimming crews, alongside the FBI Albany field office’s announcement crediting the partners who traced the devices.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of New York, “Romanian National Sentenced for Fraud and Identity Theft” — source