BOSTON – A Brazilian national pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to charges of ATM skimming in towns north of Boston.

Alexandre Kawamura, 43, pleaded guilty to two counts of using counterfeit access devices (debit and credit cards), four counts of possessing device-making equipment (ATM skimming devices and pinhole cameras), and two counts of aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin scheduled sentencing for April 17, 2019. Kawamura, who legally entered the U.S. on a tourist visa, will be subject to deportation after he completes his sentence.

Kawamura placed hidden skimming devices and pinhole cameras on Eastern Bank ATMs in Saugus, Stoneham, Medford, and Everett, every day between February 25 and March 16, 2018, when he was arrested. The purpose of the skimming devices was to record bank account information on the magnetic strips of debit and credit cards that unwitting victims inserted into the ATMs. The purpose of the pinhole cameras was to capture the victims’ PINs as they were entered on the ATM keypads.

On March 8, 2018, Kawamura possessed a counterfeit debit card with a magnetic strip that contained the stolen bank account number of a Milton woman. At an ATM in Malden, Kawamura used the card and the victim’s PIN to withdraw $500 cash from the victim’s account.

On March 16, 2018, Kawamura used a counterfeit credit card to buy clothing at a sporting goods store in Medford. The name on the card was an alias, and the card’s magnetic strip contained the stolen Eastern Bank account number of a Medford man, whose account had been compromised the day before.

Kawamura was arrested on March 16 after a bank customer called police to report that he had found a skimming device on a drive-up ATM at an Eastern Bank branch in Stoneham. Police responded and discovered that the pinhole camera was still attached to the ATM. They set up surveillance and waited for the suspect to return. Kawamura drove up to the ATM in a rental car shortly before 11 pm. He appeared to look for the skimming device and then drove off. Stoneham police stopped the car and discovered that the driver had a Brazilian passport in his real name and had rented the car under an alias. Kawamura was in possession of the counterfeit credit card that he had just used to buy clothing at the sporting goods store.  

The charging statute for using a counterfeit access device provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of possessing device-making equipment provides for a sentence of no greater than 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. The charging statute for aggravated identity theft provides for a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, to be served consecutive to any other sentence imposed, up to one year of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Office, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case. 

 

 

BOSTON – A Brazilian couple was arrested on Friday, March 30, 2018, and charged in federal court in Boston in connection with an ATM skimming operation.

Alexandre Kawamura, 42, was charged with possession of device-making equipment, and Karem Kawamura, 25, was charged with aiding and abetting the use of a counterfeit access device.

According to the complaint affidavits, the ATM skimming equipment consisted of devices attached to ATM card slots that recorded bank account information on the magnetic strips of debit cards that unwitting victims inserted into ATMs, combined with pinhole cameras that captured the victims entering their PINs on ATM keypads. Alexandre Kawamura was caught on ATM security video placing and removing skimming devices on drive-up ATMs at Eastern Bank branches in Saugus, Stoneham, and Medford between Feb. 24 and March 16, 2018. On two occasions, when he drove up to the ATMs to check on the devices, Karem Kawamura was in the car.

On March 16, 2018, a bank customer called local police to report that he had found and removed a skimming device from the drive-up ATM at the Eastern Bank branch in Stoneham. Police responded and discovered that the pinhole camera was still attached to the ATM. They set up surveillance while bank security personnel monitored the ATM’s security video, and shortly before 11 pm, Alexandre Kawamura drove up to the ATM in a rental car, looked around for the skimming device, never inserted a card into the machine, and then drove off. Stoneham Police stopped Alexandre Kawamura’s car shortly thereafter. Mr. Kawamura had a Brazilian passport in his true name, but had rented the vehicle under an alias.

The same alias was embossed on a credit card in Alexandre Kawamura’s possession when he was arrested, but the bank account information contained in the magnetic strip of the card belonged to a bank customer whose debit card had been compromised at one of the Eastern Bank ATMs the day before. Eastern Bank records showed that, on the day of Mr. Kawamura’s arrest, purchases were made on the bank customer’s account at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Medford. The store’s security camera recorded the defendants shopping at that store during the time when the bank customer’s account was used to buy a shirt, jacket, and hat.

After Mr. Kawamura was arrested, federal agents located Ms. Kawamura at an Extended Stay America in Woburn. On March 30, agents executed a search warrant for the room used by Ms. Kawamura and found the shirt, jacket, and hat that had been purchased at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

The charge of possession of device-making equipment provides for a sentence of no greater than 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of aiding and abetting the use of a counterfeit access device provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Office; Medford Police Chief Leo Sacco; Milton Police Chief John E. King; Saugus Police Chief Domenic J. DiMella; Stoneham Police Chief James T. McIntyre; and Woburn Police Chief Robert J. Ferullo Jr. made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the complaints are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.