A Las Vegas man who used gas pump skimming devices to steal people’s credit and debit card information was sentenced today to two years in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Dayle Elieson of the District of Nevada announced.
Virab Torosyan, 55, also was ordered to pay $41,475 in restitution. He previously pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft, officials said.
According to court documents, Torosyan possessed 1,673 stolen credit and debit card account numbers. He admitted that from February 2014 to July 2014 he and coconspirators placed card skimming devices at gas pumps to steal credit and debit card data, officials said.
Torosyan would re-encode the stolen credit and debit card information to any plastic card with a magnetic strip, officials said.
He then used the counterfeit cards to buy fuel in North Las Vegas and elsewhere for pickup trucks with custom-made 400 gallon fuel tanks hidden under their hardtop bed covers, officials said. Torosyan sold the fuel at a discounted price to gas stations and motorists, officials said.
The case was investigated by Metro Police and the U.S. Secret Service.