Sophisticated ATM scammer who stole £40,000 from 500-plus machines jailed at Leeds Crown Court

Florin Ivascu travelled across the country taking money from scores of ATMs and was involved in stealing £40,000 in cash while also causing damage valued at over £60,000 to the machines.

Andrei Matei, formerly of Atherstone Avenue, Crumpsall, Manchester, was jailed for two years and three months in February of this year after admitting theft and criminal damage to 483 machines.

Ivascu faced the same charges together with an additional 62 thefts and criminal damage relating to ATM incidents which took place in Merseyside.

Appearing before Leeds Crown Court, Ivascu admitted a total of 545 thefts from cash machines.

The pair used a specially-modified tool to jam open the cash dispenser on the ATMs so they could take money from inside.

Ivascu would carry out the process while Matei kept lookout and provided cover so that people could not see what was happening.

An investigation into the pair’s activities was launched by the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit (YHROCU) after a spate of thefts from cash machines in West Yorkshire.

But officers soon established the pair were carrying out their activities all over the country.

Officers examined CCTV footage from hundreds of locations across the UK to establish that it was the same pair who were behind the attacks.

They were arrested in Nottinghamshire in 2023.

Appearing before Leeds Crown Court for sentencing today, Ivascu, 40, and formerly of Hunters Square, Dagenham, London, was jailed for four years.

The Romanian national was also ordered to be deported once his sentence is complete.

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Speaking after the sentencing, economic crime investigator Neil Bottomley of the YHROCU’s Proactive Economic Crime Team said: “We received reports of a number of incidents where two men were targeting cash points in Yorkshire, but it soon became very clear while we were piecing together their activities that they were active on a nationwide scale.

“The pair were committing thefts from ATMs across most of the country and leaving a trail of damage to the machines behind them. Several other forces assisted us as part of this investigation.

“Ivascu and Matei were nothing short of prolific and I’m pleased that we have been able to finally bring them to justice and put them behind bars.”

Three YHROCU officers were commended by the judge for their role in the investigation.

The pair committed offences in 27 of England’s 40 areas, stretching from West Yorkshire to Avon & Somerset, Hampshire, London, Manchester, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and Durham.