Three individuals have been arrested for allegedly skimming ATM machines across Hartford County. The arrests followed an investigation initiated on December 18th by the Statewide Organized Crime Investigative Task Force, after Liberty Bank reported multiple fraudulent charges linked to ATM activity.
Authorities were informed of two primary victims who had noticed unauthorized transactions on their accounts, which all traced back to the same Newington location. Similar incidents were also reported in Berlin and West Hartford, raising concerns of a widespread ATM skimming operation.
Using surveillance footage from various financial institutions and third-party ATMs, investigators were able to identify the suspects. Two of the suspects, 22-year-old Tom Uzan and 23-year-old Ioan Kanalos, were arrested without incident. However, the driver of the vehicle, 26-year-old Tsounis Panagiotis, fled on foot but was apprehended shortly behind a nearby strip mall.
During a search of their vehicle, law enforcement seized multiple pieces of evidence, including a keypad overlay device, spare SD cards, and bank cards linked to other individuals. Additional bank cards containing stolen debit and credit card information were found on Panagiotis when authorities retraced his escape route.
All three suspects face a range of charges, including illegal use of a scanning device and fraudulent use of an ATM. They were each held on a $500,000 bond and appeared in New Britain Superior Court on Monday morning.
