By Karin Hendrich
They manipulate ATMs, spy on bank customers’ data in order to plunder their accounts with duplicate cards. A scam by criminal gangs that the police have to deal with again and again.
Two of these perpetrators, who were caught by the authorities in November last year, have been in court since Tuesday: the Bulgarians Georgi L. (57) and Kolyo K. (47). The accusation included: counterfeiting of payment cards.
“Who has withdrawn money from my account?” That or something similar will have asked the more than 30 victims of the two in amazement. They were cheated out of amounts between 40 and 78,000 (!) Euros. From bank customers throughout Berlin. And in Itzehoe. Total: 140,160 euros.
Until, after months of painstaking search for clues, the detectives landed “a hit” on “skimming material”. Investigator Danilo C. (31): “The man had been exposed years earlier with the same model.” We are talking about the main defendant Georgi L. He was then observed for three days. And caught red-handed on the fourth in Frankfurter Allee. Also present on November 1, 2022: the co-defendant. (Evaluations of video material from bank branches proved further deeds).
During the subsequent searches of a homeless quarter (Georgi L.) and an apartment (Kolyo K.), the investigators found a large number of blank cards (so-called “white plastics”), duplicates… And extensive skimming equipment (attachments for the slot machine, camera devices to spy out the PIN, several laptops…).
Was it the tightened prison conditions, among other things because of the increased risk of escaping (contact bans, telephone calls and visits only with an interpreter) that moved Georgi L. to confess? “I’m shocked myself how many acts there were.” After his last release in 2017 (after a four-year prison sentence), he wanted to become a better person. However, he was forced to continue at home. “They even threatened my family.”
Even Kolyo K., whose car repair shop was only running moderately, didn’t excuse himself: “I thought I could make money the easy way.”
The court promised prison sentences of between six and six and a half years (Georgi L.) or three and three and a half years for their confessions. Continued: Tuesday (April 18)