PALADI: JAIL FOR ROMANIAN CASHPOINT FRAUDSTER

A Romanian fraudster who used sophisticated computer malware to help steal £1.6m from cash machines across the UK was jailed for five years today (THURS).

Grigore Paladi, 37, was part of a gang that took over 52 ATMs during the May bank holiday weekend in 2014.

Once they had gained access to the machine’s operating system they were able to methodically empty its contents, 40 notes at a time.

After the fraudsters had taken as much cash as they wanted, the malware deleted itself, removing any trace it had ever existed.

Paladi was a member of one of three teams thought to have also committed identical frauds in Mexico, Russia and Malaysia.

Sentencing Paladi at London’s Southwark crown court, Judge Stephen Robbins told him: ‘The fact is, as you well know, this type of offence is prevalent in this country and around the world.

‘Using, in this case, ultra sophisticated equipment the total amount involved was some £1.6million at different ATMs, in this case 52 different locations.

‘You were involved in about £500,000 worth of that.’

The court heard that each crime was facilitated with keys.

Once inside the machine, the fraudsters would have access to the computer’s core and could load software directly on to the ATM.

‘Somebody devised a malware programme, which was inserted into the machines,’ prosecutor, Antony Swift, said.

‘Once the malware was inserted you would go to the front of the machine, type in codes and the machine would give you cash as if you were an engineer looking at the machine.

‘It overrode the security functions of the machine, allowed repeat transactions and effectively these machines were emptied.’

Paladi was caught after he was seen hovering around a cash machine in Broscoe Street, Liverpool, at 3am on 31 May.

Suspicions were raised because Paladi and three other men were paying attention to the ATM but not withdrawing cash.

The gang dispersed as the witness tried to film them on his mobile phone, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Two hours later the witness returned to see the same group hanging around the cash machine.

Moments later two of the men headed towards a bus stop with a bag which appeared to be filled with cash.

The gang are also suspected of hacking into 19 ATMs in Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Malacca between September 24 and 29 last year.

According to reports in Malaysia, they inserted a compact disc into the ATM’s CD-ROM drive to spread the malware.

This caused the ATM system to reboot, which allowed the fraudsters to withdraw money.

Paladi, who holds dual Romanian and Republic of Moldova citizenship, is also suspected of hacking ATMs in Russia, Germany and Canada.

He was finally arrested in London on October 24 last year. None of the money has ever been recovered and it is thought to have been invested in Romania.

Paladi, of Old Commercial Road, Portsmouth, admitted conspiracy to defraud at an earlier hearing.

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