Romanian National, Previously Convicted Of ATM Fraud In England, Arrested In Concord On Felony Charges

CONCORD, NH — A Romanian national, with a prior ATM scam conviction in England a decade ago, was arrested in Concord on 15 charges after multiple credit card purchases at retail locations, according to police.

Teofil Bortos, 46, of no fixed address in New York, was arrested on Monday on five felony counts of identity fraud, four felony counts of forgery, four counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, disobeying an officer, and false report to law enforcement.

Police were requested to the Hannaford supermarket Friday to investigate a debit card fraud incident after a victim reported someone was making multiple purchases and cash withdrawals without their permission or authority at the store. What made the cases even more peculiar was the victim was still in possession of their debit card at the time of the fraudulent transactions, Lt. Thomas Yerkes of the department’s bureau of investigations said.

“Evidence collected at the scene led to a male suspect who appeared to use multiple credit/debit cards in approximately eight separate transactions,” he said. “The suspect was observed leaving the scene in a dark colored SUV with out-of-state license plates. Evidence collected also indicated that the same suspect was involved with fraudulent transactions at other retail locations in New Hampshire.”

On Monday, a patrol officer saw the suspect and the SUV in question at Hannaford, according to a report. Bortos was contacted in the vehicle after leaving the store and was accused of providing a New York driver’s license “with identifying credentials that did not match his true identity.”

Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the process for requesting the removal of a name from New Hampshire Patch police reports.

Bortos was arrested and was properly identified. He was held on preventative detention and taken to the Merrimack County Jail. Bortos was scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday.

According to reports in the British press, Bortos was part of an Eastern European crime gang in 2014 and 2015, involved in a £1.6 million malware attack on UK cash machines — about $2.15 million in American dollars today. He was living in Newham, London, at the time and was sentenced to seven years in jail after admitting to the conspiracy.

“Bortos’ primary role was to drive to various locations to conduct reconnaissance of ATM sites and identify possible targets for malware installation,” according to a post, with his booking photo, on PoliceProfessional.com.

Bortos and another man, Grigore Paladi, who was jailed for five years on similar charges, targeted more than 50 ATMs, owned by Cardtronics, across the United Kingdom. He was eventually arrested in Romania, according to another website.

According to the BBC, £1.3 million remained missing in January 2016.

The Concord Police Department asked anyone with information to contact Detective Steven Carter of the Criminal Investigations Division at 603-225-8600.

Anyone who has information relative to this incident and wishes to remain anonymous is asked to call the Concord Regional Crimeline at 603-226-3100, or submit information online through the Crimeline website at: www.concordregionalcrimeline.com, or text message TIP234 and your message to CRIMES (274637). Crimeline awards cash to anyone whose information leads to the arrest and indictment of criminals. All tips remain anonymous.

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