Security News > 2021 > May > Boss of ATM Skimming Syndicate Arrested in Mexico

Florian "The Shark" Tudor, the alleged ringleader of a prolific ATM skimming gang that siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars from bank accounts of tourists visiting Mexico over the last eight years, was arrested in Mexico City on Thursday in response to an extradition warrant from a Romanian court.

Tudor, a native of Craiova, Romania, moved to Mexico to set up Top Life Servicios, an ATM servicing company which managed a fleet of relatively new ATMs based in Mexico branded as Intacash.

Follow-up reporting last year by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project found Tudor and his associates compromised more than 100 ATMs across Mexico using skimmers that were able to remain in place undetected for years.

The OCCRP, which dubbed Tudor's group "The Riviera Maya Gang," estimates the crime syndicate used cloned card data and stolen PINs to steal more than $1.2 billion from bank accounts of tourists visiting the region.

Mexican authorities have been examining bank accounts tied to Tudor and his companies, and investigators believe Tudor and his associates paid protection and hush money to various Mexican politicians and officials over the years.

In April 2019, Tudor and his deputy were arrested for illegal firearms possession.

News URL

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/05/boss-of-atm-skimming-syndicate-arrested-in-mexico/