The Darien Times

Three indicted for pinhole camera ATM scam

Written by The Darien Times
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 01:39 PM

Darien Police arrested two more people in connection to an ATM skimming scam at the Bank of America in June. New York resident Ahmet Cilek, 42, was arrested in June.

Assisted by the Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force and the Secret Service, Darien Police connected the crime in Darien to New York residents Gabriella Graham, 21, and Mehmet Aydin, 42. On Nov. 15, a federal grand jury handed down an indictment, charging the three New York residents with conspiracy, bank fraud and identity theft offenses related to their alleged participation in the scheme across southern New England.

The indictment claims that, between February 2011 and July 2011, Aydin, Cilek, Graham and others conspired to install skimming devices on ATMs at 11 banks and one credit union in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The co-conspirators used the stolen information captured by the skimming devices and pinhole cameras to create counterfeit bank cards that allowed them to withdraw funds from the customers’ accounts, according to the indictment.

The three defendants appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons in Bridgeport and entered a plea of not guilty to the charges.

Cilek is familiar to law enforcement and perpetrated similar crimes in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, police said. Police believe Aydin is responsible for 26 similar incidents in the same states. Cilek also has an extensive criminal history in Virginia, New York and Connecticut.

Cilek has been detained in state custody since his arrest in Darien on June 20. Aydin and Graham were arrested on Nov. 2 and Nov. 4, respectively. Both are detained in federal custody.

The charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud carry a maximum prison sentence of 30 years and up to $1 million in fines, on each count. The charge of aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory prison sentence of two years, which must be imposed consecutively to a sentence imposed on any other count of conviction.

U.S. Attorney David Fein stressed that each defendant is entitled to a fair trial at which it is the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Fein specifically recognized the efforts of the Greenwich Police Department, Darien Police Department, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s Office of Fraud Detection and National Security, and U.S. Secret Service in Boston and Providence for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution of this matter.

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