LINDA, California — Yuba County officials sentenced two people to serve a year in county jail and two years probation for running a credit card 'skimmer' operation at a Linda Walmart.
According to Yuba County Sheriff's deputies, Walmart loss prevention observed two men place a skimmer device on a register Feb. 11.
Law enforcement were able to get a scope on the suspects' vehicle and were led back to a house in Sacramento where the suspect, Alexandru Capatina and Leontin Ionuts were living.
Their vehicle was discovered to have been near a Dollar General in Olivehurst — where another credit card skimmer was located hidden in an ATM.
Sutter County Welfare Fraud investigator Kevin Tasler saw a bulletin for two men being arrested in Riverside County for similar crimes, he compared the booking photos to local surveillance footage and was able to identify the Yuba County suspects as Romanian nationals.
With the help of the Sacramento County Sheriff's SWAT Team, detectives discovered 46 Visa gift cards, computers and more than $4,600 in cash.
While both men deny any affiliation with organized crime, their skimmer operation in the Sacramento region is almost identical to dozens of skimmer operations in southern California with ties to organized crime in Romania, Yuba County officials said.
