Tamil Nadu: 3 Bulgarians held for possession of ATM card skimmer devices

CHENNAI: Three Bulgarian nationals were arrested on Friday for possession of two skimmer devices used to steal data from ATM cards, 54 uncoded cards, decoders and encoding devices. Police also seized Rs 7.5 lakh in Indian currency and $13,000, laptops and mobile phones.
The Adyar police found the three holed up in a hotel room. The trio were identified as Lyubomir Maksimov, 33, Nicholai Katev, 30, and Boris Valkov, 30.
Preliminary inquiries revealed that the three men had reached Chennai on July 13 and checked into a hotel in Karapakkam on Old Mahabalipuram Road. On Thursday, one of them had sought the help of the hotel receptionist to open the safe locker in their room.
When an engineer came to help them open the locker, he noticed bundles of cash wrapped in polythene. He informed the hotel administration and the staff searched the room on Friday when they were out. The housekeeping staff found the decoders and encoders in a cupboard inside the bathroom and alerted the Kannagi Nagar police. On the advise of inspector S Veerakumar, they kept the devices in their possession and locked the room.
When the trio returned to the hotel, the staff informed police, who came and arrested them. Though they initially claimed that the devices did not belong to them, they were handed over to the bank fraud wing of Central Crime Branch.
During questioning, the trio said they had come to the city with debit and credit credentials of foreign nationals to forge ATM cards and withdraw cash. They were handed over to the central crime branch sleuths and were remanded in judicial custody on Saturday.
The arrest comes two days after a skimmer device was seized from an ATM in Ayanavaram. Police said there’s no link with the Bulgarians.