Two Chinese nationals convicted of “skimming” more than $70,000 from ATMs around Samoa have each been sentenced to five years in prison.
District Court Judge Fepulea’i Ameperosa Roma said during sentencing he believed more people were involved in this crime involving Bank of South Pacific ATM machines.
According to the judge, “There is a high degree of planning and premeditation. These were no ordinary thefts and most likely involved others.”
Roma told the defendants, Zhong Shuiming and Yang Quigreen, “there was obviously a great deal of planning before you arrived in Samoa and started stealing from the ATMs.”
The crime involved counterfeit bank cards that were used to illegally withdraw funds from accounts of offshore clients.
“It also involves you traveling all the way from China with those counterfeit cards to an island where you have never been before and withdrawn numerous and substantial sums from ATMs of a bank within three days,” said the District Court Judge.
It is not sure if the pair would be deported after serving their sentences.
