Alleged Romanian suspect of card cloning syndicate released

Police have released the Romanian national who was detained on the 3rd January, alleged to be behind the card cloning syndicate.

Director Crimes Detective Superintendent Joel Simatab said the suspect was released after complainants failed to turn up.

He said most of the card cloning victims have gone to their respective banks to report money going missing but none of these reports have been filed with the police making it difficult for police to detain the Romanian suspect.

Mr. Simatab said, "due to complainants not coming forward within the given time of the Romanian being apprehended, police had to release him and legally they couldn’t keep him detained without formal charges."

He said a complainant from Hela province did arrive at the station but he arrived very late when police had already released the suspect.

Police are unable to pin down his exact location at this time but he has been spotted at certain locations that cannot be revealed to the public due to the ongoing investigations.

Simatab did confirm that there were a number of blank cards in his possession which were confiscated by Police.

An Investigative Task Force was launched this week to investigate this crime, following the report on the Romanian suspect being caught with blank cards with serial numbers at the back.

Mr. Simatab added that banks are concerned as they believe all the blank cards that were confiscated from the Romanian suspect could be connected to BSP Customer Accounts.

He said the police are working together with Immigration and the concerned banks to identify other suspects caught on the ATM cameras.