KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, (CMC) — Two men – a Jamaican and a Bulgarian – were on Thursday (October 31) each ordered to pay the court EC$10,000 (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) or spend two months in jail after pleading guilty to charges relating to scamming using automated teller machines (ATM), across the island.

The Jamaican, Christopher Cole, 34, and Bulgarian Mirolav Stanoev, 31, pleaded guilty to charges that on October 23, that they used skimming devices in order to steal funds from ATMs.

They further pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit theft when they appeared before Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne at the Serious Offences Court in Kingstown.

The police report that the men, who arrived here, on October 21 , brought with them the items designed to capture video footage of ATMS, personal identification numbers and debit card information.

The information was then used to create a replica of the customer’s card and that replica card was then used to withdraw cash from the corresponding account.

On the morning of October 23, it’s reported that personnel from Bank of St Vincent and the Grenadines Reigate Branch conducted routine checks of their ATMs and during one of these checks, a skimming device was found.

The device was removed with camera footage showing the men affixing the device to the ATM machine.

The bank then contacted the Major Crime Unit (MCU), which launched an investigation.

Cole and Stanoev, were later apprehended by the police and during interviews, they admitted to the crime. 

Browne said that after consulting the sentencing guidelines, the court had decided to fine each of the men EC$5,000 for “the being equipped to steal” charge, with a prison term of two months in default.

They were each also fined EC$5,000 for the conspiracy charge or one month in prison.

The sentences are to run concurrently after which they will be deported from St Vincent.