4 Bulgarians arrested in $2 million ATM thefts
Posted on Thu, Apr. 10, 2008
BY ELINOR J. BRECHER
ebrecher@MiamiHerald.com



From top left to right, Nikolai H. Arabov, 37, Denislav Filipov, 19, Diyan N. Dobrev, 34, and Stanimir G. Kolev, 36.
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Video | Bulgarians arrested in $2 million ATM thefts
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Four one-way tickets Sofia-Miami: About $4,000.

Haul from the heist: At least $2 million.

Busting the four Bulgarians who figured out yet another ingenious way to hijack ATMS -- literally from the inside out, with tiny cameras: Priceless.

''It was very satisfying,'' said the Miami Beach police detective who led six undercover colleagues in tracking down and arresting the four men, who are now in the Miami-Dade County Jail.

The quartet is accused of installing ''skimmers'' on the outside of ATMs and cameras inside to capture PIN and account numbers, then reprogramming retail-store gift cards and nefariously acquired credit cards with the information to withdraw cash.

Miami Beach police spokesman Detective Juan Sanchez asked that the names of the undercover officers -- from the economic crimes and auto-theft unit -- not be used, to protect their anonymity.

Sanchez said that federal and other local law-enforcement agencies had been chasing the four men for two years, during which time they stole from ''thousands of victims'' from South Florida to New Jersey.

Facing multiple felony charges, including grand theft, criminal use of personal identification, credit-card fraud, violations of the Communications Fraud Act and tampering with evidence, are: Nikolai H. Arabov, 37, also charged with cocaine possession; Diyan N. Dobrev, 34; Stanimir G. Kolev, 36, and Denislav Filipov, 19.

Police said that all four men were in the United States legally, on legitimate visas.


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