Police agents and prosecutors from Poland and several other countries have been successful in busting a criminal group dealing in skimming and counterfeiting of bank cards.

The case started in end 2009 when numerous instances of draining client accounts through money vending machines had been reported by banks in Lublin, eastern Poland.

In March 2010, three Romanian citizens were detained on suspicion of committing the crime.

Picking up the lead Polish police and the prosecutors office undertook joint actions with their Romanian and Swedish colleagues.

This cooperation resulted in the arrest of another five persons, this time in Romania, found to be members of an organized crime ring. Searches conducted in 14 Romanian localities allowed to retrieve 50,000 euros, 50,000 US dollars and 18,000 British pounds in cash stolen by the group.

The team of international investigators established that the suspects copied magnetic code strips and banking card numbers in Scandinavian countries. The information allowed them to produce fake cards for use in Poland.  (ss)