Alleged gas station defrauding scheme costs victims more than $200K

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — One more man has been sentenced in an intricate gas station defrauding scheme that cost victims more than $200,000, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Emmanuel Dejesus Nina-Perez, 31, of Salt Lake City, was sentenced Friday to 27 months in prison.

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Nina-Perez is reportedly the sixth and final person in a three-year conspiracy that defrauded gas station customers and their banks. Those involved secretly used Bluetooth-enabled skimming equipment to steal customers’ credit card information, the press release states.

Skimming equipment reportedly contains a Bluetooth card reader that records information such as the customers’ credit card number, name, and zip code associated with the card.

Those involved in the scheme installed skimming equipment onto the motherboard of the internal computer that controls gas pumps, the release states. After it was installed, the individuals involved would get within range of the skimming device to initiate a wireless Bluetooth connection at the gas pump.

The individuals would then download the credit/debit card information, encode the data captured onto cloned cards, and use those cards to purchase fuel and other items, the release states.

Collectively, those involved are responsible for more than $200,000 in losses, the release states.

Salt Lake City Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Shohini Sinha said anyone could have been a victim of this crime, as filling up gas tanks is a common, routine activity.

“Fraud not only costs businesses and banks, but places an added burden on citizens to recover from identity theft,” Sinha said. “We encourage the public to regularly check their bank statements and report any potential fraud to local law enforcement or the FBI.”

The others involved in the scheme include Yarislani Padron-Cruz, 38, a foreign national living in Salt Lake City; Yofre Napoleon Almonte, 50, a foreign national living in Salt Lake City; Iraldo Pereda-Mendez, 36, of Salt Lake City; Jandry Artigas-Reyes, 38, a foreign national living in Salt Lake City; and Yosbel Delgado-Valdes, 44, of Salt Lake City. They all pled guilty to participating in the gas scheme conspiracy, the release states.

In addition to Nina-Perez’s prison sentence, Padron-Cruz was sentenced to 48 months in prison; Almonte was sentenced to 36 months in prison; Pereda-Mendez was sentenced to 39 months in prison; Artigas-Reyes was sentenced to 45 months in prison; and Delgado-Valdes was sentenced to 50 months in prison. Each has reportedly been ordered by the court to reimburse the victims for their losses.

Several of the co-conspirators, including Nina-Perez, were either long-haul truck drivers or had close connections to trucking transportation companies who operated fleets of long-haul trucks, the release states.

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