Duo used stolen Visa card for €17k shopping spree

Two Romanians who used a rudimentary device to steal a Visa card from an ATM before using it to spend €17,064.67 in Argos shops have been given sentences of two and two and a half years.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday that Marius Radu, aged 38, and Bogdan Plesu, aged 31, bought mainly electrical items they intended to sell.

They were identified through CCTV footage in Argos stores after the unauthorised transactions appearing on the card owner’s statement showed it had been used in the retail outlet.

Detective Garda William Kavanagh said gardaí used CCTV cameras to track the thieves to a multi-storey car park and were also able to get the registration of the car they were driving. This vehicle was traced back to Plesu’s girlfriend’s home in Tallaght, Dublin.

The house was searched after gardaí discovered both suspects were living there and what Det Garda Kavanagh described as a “Lebanese loop” was found.

The detective said this was a rudimentary device consisting of a cut measuring tape which, if inserted into an ATM, will trap the card and keep it there. Gardaí also discovered a can of spray paint which would have been used to make the device the same colour as the machine.

Det Garda Kavanagh told Ronan Kennedy BL, prosecuting, that €3,500 was found in Plesu’s room in the house and a further €2,000 was found in Radu’s room.

Radu and Plesu, both with an address at Killinarden Estate, Tallaght, were sent to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court having entered signed pleas of guilty in the district court to theft of cash and theft of a Visa card in January 2016.

Judge Melanie Greally said Plesu had an impressive education history, while Radu had a good employment record. She said both men had made good use of their time in custody.

However, she said she was not convinced by evidence they carried out the offence to deal with their gambling habits. “That came very late in the day and was a convenient addition,” she said.

The judge sentenced Radu to two years in jail. She noted Plesu had only recently been released for a previous offence when he stole the card and sentenced him to two-and-a-half years.