Cancun, Q.R. — The Romanian leader of an international ATM scam in Cancun has been returned to Mexico. On Sunday, Mexican authorities arrested Mihai “A” after being returned to Mexico from Poland.
The Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) said the arrest was made after the successful handover of the wanted man with support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE).
In a press statement, the FGR said Mihai “A” was extradited back to Mexico after intelligence work by the Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC) and Interpol Mexico.
“In compliance with the Extradition Treaty signed between the United Mexican States and the Republic of Poland, the authorities of that country assessed the elements provided by the Mexican Attorney General’s Office, which indicated the criminal conduct of a person of Romanian origin, allegedly leader of a criminal organization, dedicated to the illegal theft of cash,” the FGR reported.
Mihai “A” is allegedly the leader of a gang that illegally disposed of cash from ATMs in various states, but mainly in Cancun. ATMs in Puerto Morelos and Playa del Carmen were also alleged part of their scam.
According to intelligence reports and field work carried out by the Federal Ministerial Police (PFM) of the FGR, this organization carried out criminal operations around the country.
A series of financial, material and human resources were obtained for the creation of companies dedicated to the installation of ATMs in which internal devices for tracking bank card data were placed.
“Said criminal organization, internationally led by Mihai “A”, and whose subordinate in Mexico was Florian “T”, illegally disposed of cash from ATMs in Mexico City, Quintana Roo, Yucatán, the State of Mexico and Hidalgo for an amount of more than 70 million pesos,” the FGR added.
The FGR said similarly, based on information obtained, this gang began operating in 2016 and it is presumed that they had the support of local authorities for their mission. After the Quintana Roo Prosecutor’s Office started a file on those facts, it was not until the present administration that the Attorney General’s Office began the investigations, which resulted in locating the modus operandi.
Through their ATM companies, they changed the slots and keyboards of the ATMs to illegally steal cash, which led to obtaining arrest warrants against Mihai “A” and Florian “T”.
Thus, in 2021, the District Judge Specialized in the Accusatory Criminal System of the Federal Criminal Justice Center in Mexico City, at the request of the FGR, granted an arrest warrant against Mihai “A” for criminal association in the modality of improperly disposing of resources from credit institutions.
The FGR said that it was through Interpol that Polish authorities arrested Mihai “A” in July of 2022. In August, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office formalized his extradition before the Government of the Republic of Poland, and in January of this year, the Polish Ministry of Justice declared his extradition to Mexico admissible.
In Mexico, Florian “T”, a subordinate of Mihai “A”, is currently facing proceedings for various crimes after he was arrested in Mexico City on May 27, 2021 by the Federal Ministerial Police.
Mihai “A” was extradited from the Warsaw International Airport, arriving in Mexico City Sunday afternoon where he was handed over to Mexico authorities to face the corresponding charges.
