Brazilians federally indicted after arrest at Hubbard bank

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A federal grand jury indicted two Brazilian nationals after Hubbard police arrested them with two credit-card skimmers, more than 250 counterfeit credit and debit cards and nearly $140,000 in cash.

Felipe Trovo Pena, 27 and Antonio Pedro de Oliveira Neto, 26, face charges of conspiracy to commit credit- card fraud, use of counterfeit credit cards and possession of counterfeit credit cards.

Police arrested Pena and Neto on Nov. 12 after a teller at the Cortland Banks branch in Hubbard told police an individual or individuals made ATM withdrawals while obscuring the ATM’s camera.

The pair had a storage unit in Cleveland, which contained $139,480 in cash, their Brazilian passports, 420 cards with magnetic strips including 253 counterfeit credit or debit cards and two skimming devices, according to court documents.

Investigators said the pair installed skimming devices on ATMs, created counterfeit credit and debit cards with the data and used them to obtain cash, the documents said.

“These defendants stole personal information from people and then used it to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars through counterfeit bank and credit cards,” U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman said.

Stephen Anthony, an FBI special agent, advised people to review their credit- card and bank statements on a regular basis.

“The FBI will continue to investigate and hold financial scammers, such as these, responsible for their actions.”,” Anthony said.

The FBI and U.S. Secret Service investigated the case with the Hubbard Police Department and Trumbull County Prosecutor’s office.