Ukrainian arrested in Miami for grand theft

A 32-year-old Ternopil resident, Vitaliy Moravl, was arrested in Miami Beach on suspicion of thefts from ATMs.

This was reported by the  NBCMiama» TV channel.

The accomplice of our compatriot turned out to be 28-year-old Roman Leskiv. Both are Ukrainians, but live in North Miami Beach. They were arrested Monday on charges including grand theft and organized fraud.

Two men have been charged in connection with an ’ATM jackpotting» scheme to steal large sums of cash from ATMs in Miami-Dade. According to arrest reports, detectives were investigating ATM jackpotting incidents in Miami-Dade, where hackers accessed ATM hardware through card entry slots or service ports to initiate ’jackpot payouts», where large sums of cash are dispensed.

Investigators believe Leskiw and Moravel used a bank card they inserted into the ATMs to hack the machines, the report said. According to reports, surveillance photos showed Leskiv and Moravel making transactions at an ATM around the time of the card theft.

On November 13, the Miami Secret Service field office was contacted by an officer from Miami Gardens who had encountered Moravel at a grocery store during a call about a fraudulent ATM transaction, the reports said.

Moravel produced a Florida driver's license and various bank cards in his name.

The former Ternopil resident stole tens of thousands of dollars from ATMs.

Last week, authorities searched the apartments Leskiv and Moravel, who live in the same house.

In Moravel's apartment, authorities found numerous Ukrainian passports that did not belong to Moravel or his family, numerous electronic devices, an electronic credit/debit card encoder, an error detector and $17,740 in cash, the report said.

Both men were detained and taken into custody.

In Ternopil, Vitaliy Moravel is known for his alpine skiing performances.