Venezuelan, Mexican get 2 years for ATM rigging

Two men were sentenced to two years' hard labour after they were found guilty of tampering with ATM machines at Trincity Mall on Sunday.

A media release said Mexican Francisco Javier Gill Rivera, 27, and Venezuelan Simon Eduardo Farias Romero, 33, appeared before Arima magistrate Aden Stroude on Tuesday to face charges of trafficking in counterfeit cards and the possession of card-making equipment

Both Rivera and Romero pleaded guilty to both charges.

The release said both men were held on December 15 by Fraud Squad investigators on ATM patrol and surveillance duties.

Investigators got information about tampering at the Trincity Mall Scotiabank ATM and paid close attention to activities there.

They saw the machine had been rigged with a grey panel at the top of the screen.

They also saw Rivera and Romero visiting the machine and removing the device.

They arrested the men and seized a plastic panel containing batteries, electrical circuits, a memory card and a pinhole camera, along with 13 cards bearing magnetic strips.

They also found seven cards with magnetic strips.

The men s were arrested and taken to the Fraud Squad office in Port of Spain. The cards were later found to contain the banking information of various customers.

Police got a search warrant for the men's home in Petit Valley, where they found and seized 14 cards. These were also found to contain customers' banking information.