A Queens woman was sentenced on Friday for her role in an identity theft scheme that last year yielded thousands of bank account and credit card numbers from Long Island Railroad ticket vending machines bugged with hidden cameras.
Teodora Zaharia, who in late March pleaded guilty to a felony count of grand larceny, will spend nine months in prison and forfeit $61,251.85 that was taken from her apartment during a police investigation, Nassau County Court Judge Robert Spergel ruled.
“Just as commuters should be able to feel physically safe riding the train, they have a right to feel financially secure as well,” Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement. “My office, along with our partners at the [Metropolitan Transportation Authority], will continue our efforts to ensure that commuters’ valuable personal information is not used to line the pockets of thieves.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney April Montgomery, of the county’s Economic Crimes Bureau. Efforts to reach Zaharia’s attorneys, Joseph Daniel and Shawn Turck, were unavailing.
Zaharia, 28, of Kew Gardens, is one of five Romanian nationals who prosecutors said attached homemade card-skimming devices to ticket machines at train stations in Bayside, Great Neck, Port Washington, Merillon Avenue, Greenvale and Sea Cliff.
She was arrested on Oct. 28, 2013 with her husband Valer after MTA police patrolling the Sea Cliff station saw them remove what was later identified as skimming equipment from vending machines.
Law enforcement officials were then led to the Elmhurst apartment shared by Dorin Husa, 37, and Niculae Petre, 45, where they recovered thousands of stolen credit card numbers, cash and paraphernalia that prosecutors said is used to commit bank card fraud, including cameras, skimmers, plastic molds, memory cards, flash drives and computers.
Husa and Petre each pleaded guilty to felony charges of criminal possession of forgery devices in mid March. They were initially scheduled for sentencing on Friday as well, but DA spokesman Paul Leonard said in an e-mail that they are due back in court on May 15.
Prosecutors have requested that Husa and Petre each be sentenced to one year in prison and forfeit $7,000 in cash recovered during the police investigation of their Elmhurst apartment.
Valer Zaharia, 38, pleaded guilty in March to third-degree grand larceny and fourth-degree conspiracy charges. He faces up to six years in prison.
Law enforcement officials are still seeking Cezar Nastasa, who after Husa, Petre and the Zaharias were arrested fled the country to the United Kingdom.
Nastasa has been charged with grand larceny and conspiracy in addition to multiple counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument, unlawful possession of a skimmer device and criminal possession of a forgery device. A warrant is out for his arrest.
“We appreciate the efforts of the Nassau County District Attorney’s office and the MTA police for vigorously pursuing these identity theft cases,” said LIRR President Helena E. Williams in a statement. “And we remind customers who use ticket machines to remain vigilant by always protecting their PIN when using a debit card and by reporting any suspicious behavior.”
