FXCO police make arrest in ATM card skimming case

Cicio

Fairfax County Police detectives arrested Ioan Cicio, 39, of 2230 George C. Marshall Drive, Falls Church, on Jan. 28 in connection with the skimming of ATM cards at bank machines at local hospitals, including Inova Fairfax Hospital.

Cicio was charged with three counts of possession of credit card forgery devices (skimmers), three counts of credit card theft, two counts of credit card fraud, and one count of money laundering. “The investigation is ongoing and there may be additional charges, as well as additional suspect arrests,” a police news bulletin states. 

Police tracked down Cicio after he was identified in surveillance video linked to a compromised ATM card belonging to the Fairfax City Local 2702 Fire Association in September. With the assistance of detectives from the Fairfax City Police Department and the U.S. Postal Service, the card was tracked purchasing gift cards from a Home Depot in Falls Church and then used to buy custom-made carpeting and high-end faucets.

Detectives executed a search warrant at the suspect’s home, at 2230 George C. Marshall Drive, on Jan. 24 and recovered numerous items including skimmer devices, cameras, and computers. Police received reports from over a dozen victims that may have had their bank cards compromised at hospital ATM machines in recent months.

“Detectives did an outstanding job of putting together extensive documents, numerous tips, and video in this complex investigation; it was a tremendous amount of work,” said Lt. Tony Matos, supervisor of the police department’s Financial Crimes Unit. Financial crimes are on the rise, he said. Last year, the public reported nearly 3,000 cases on the agency’s financial crimes electronic reporting site, including cases of identity theft, embezzlement, credit card theft, and check fraud.