Cops find fraud evidence in woman’s bra
(CNS): A Romanian woman accused of concealing false credit card codes in her underwear in part of a conspiracy with three other men appeared in court on trial Monday. Mariana Opriniou is charged with conspiracy to defraud and money laundering. The crown claims that she and her co-conspirators skimmed over $100,000 from ATM machines. The court heard that the cards which implicated Opriniou and the conspirators contained information from cloned credit cards. The three men have already pleaded guilty to various offenses but Opriniou has denied any part in the fraud. The crown, however, claims that Opriniou knew about the crime and took part in the conspiracy.
Cayman Islands Courts, George Town
The court heard how the Cayman National and Butterfield banks alerted the police in December last year that their ATM machines had been ripped off through the use of gift cards, which had been cloned with information from real credit cards. Camera footage from the bank showed the men, but not Opriniou, using the ATMs with the dodgy cards.
Having started an investigation, the police became aware that the gang of con men were using a rental car and tracked both Opriniou and her boyfriend, Florin Roata, to Galleria Plaza along the West Bay Road, where they were arrested. Police found cash and cards only in Roata’s name on the couple, but a search of a room at Cobalt Coast Resort, where they were staying, turned up more evidence against them.
During the room search police found US$9,300 and CI$1,700 in Roata’s wallet and in Opriniou’s purse they found US$6,000 and €1,685. In one of the suitcases they found money wrapped in the leg of Opriniou’s jeans, as well as 23 credit cards hidden in a laundry bag with her underwear. A memory stick with information of complete credit card numbers, pin numbers and their country of origin was also discovered.
During the investigation, police realized that Opriniou’s bra contained hidden strips of paper which had credit card and pin numbers that matched the information on the memory stick.
The crown suggested that Opriniou, Roata and the other two conspirators, Roland Pop and Ianaca Vismos, transferred the memory stick data to paper to have easy access to the credit card numbers when committing fraud at the ATMs.
Opriniou was arrested with Roata on 16 December last year. She was questioned by police and denied all knowledge of the scam, claiming she was here on vacation with her boyfriend.
The trial, presided over by Justice Michael Mettyear without a jury, continues in Grand Court One Tuesday at 10am. Opriniou, who is assisted by a Romanian interpreter, is represented by defense attorney Amelia Fosuhene of Stenning and Associates and the case is being prosecuted by crown counsel Toyin Salako.
Jaida Alexander is a UCCI student who is interning with CNS.
