Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., outlines in a press release that 13 individuals have been indicted on charges of stealing victims’ banking information with skimming devices at gas stations throughout the Southern United States, and using that information to steal, and then launder, more than $2 million using ATMs and banks in Manhattan.

The four lead defendants – GAREGIN SPARTALYAN, 40, ARAM MARTIROSIAN, 34, HAYK DZHANDZHAPANYAN, 40, and DAVIT KUDUGULYAN, 42 – are charged within the 426-count indictment with Money Laundering in the Second Degree, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Second Degree, Grand Larceny in the Second and Third Degree, Criminal Possession of a Forgery Device, and Criminal Possession of Forged Instruments in the Second Degree. The additional defendants – AZAT ARAMYAN, 25, NORAYR ARAMYAN, 25, ARGINE ANANYAN, 34, ROSA UNUSYAN, 24, SONA MINASYAN, 51, ARMEN ABROYAN, 36, HASMIK MIRIBIAN, 64, ARTUR POGOSYAN, 31, and ROSE VARDUI PNDLYAN, 47, are each charged with two counts of either Money Laundering in the Second Degree or Money Laundering in the Third Degree.

“By using skimming devices planted inside gas station pumps, these defendants are accused of fueling the fastest growing crime in the country,” said District Attorney Vance. “Cybercriminals and identity thieves are not limited to any geographic region, working throughout the world behind computers. In this case, the defendants are charged with stealing personal identifying information from victims in southern states, used forged bank cards on the East Coast, and withdrew stolen proceeds on the West Coast. My Office’s Cybercrime and Identity Theft Bureau also operates across borders, and will continue to track and prosecute identity thieves here in Manhattan and around the world.”



These top defendants then allegedly encoded that stolen information onto forged cards. From approximately March 2012 to March 2013, they used those forged cards to withdraw cash at ATMs in Manhattan, and then deposited that stolen money into bank accounts in New York that they had established. The other members of the scheme then promptly withdrew that money at banks in California or Nevada.

Each of the defendants’ transactions was under $10,000. They were allegedly structured in a manner to avoid any cash transaction reporting requirements imposed by law and to disguise the nature, ownership, and control of the defendants’ criminal proceeds. From March 26, 2012, to March 28, 2013, the defendants are accused of laundering approximately $2.1 million.

This investigation began after the top four defendants were arrested and charged in New York State Supreme Court on March 21, 2013. This indictment fully supersedes the previously filed indictment against those individuals.