Alleged Leader of Romanian Mafia Extradited from Poland to Mexico for ATM Bank Card Fraud
Mihai Alexandru Preda, the alleged leader of the "Riviera Maya Gang" involved in ATM bank card fraud, has been extradited from Poland to Mexico. The police in Mexico and Poland worked together to find Preda and other likely members of the criminal group.
The Polish authorities have extradited Mihai Alexandru Preda, the alleged leader of the Romanian mafia and the "Riviera Maya Gang", to Mexico. Since 2016, this criminal group has been cloning bank cards with the help of devices placed in ATMs. However, it wasn't until the current administration of the Attorney General's Office started looking into how they did it that their main operators were found.
Florian Tudor, a Romanian national and Preda's main accomplice, was arrested on May 27, 2021. The investigations by the FGR revealed that the gang changed the slots and keyboards of ATMs to illegally obtain information from bank cards, clone them, and withdraw money from accounts. They affected more than 70 million pesos in Mexico City, Quintana Roo, Yucatan, the State of Mexico, and Hidalgo.
Preda had fled to Poland, but the Mexican and Polish authorities maintained a constant flow of information, which was valuable in identifying him and other probable members of the criminal organization. The request for Preda's extradition was made official in August last year. In January of this year, the Polish Public Prosecutor's Office said that it was a good idea.
Preda was received by agents of the Federal Ministerial Police at the Warsaw International Airport and arrived at the Mexico City International Airport on Sunday afternoon. The FGR confirmed that he had gone through all of the legal steps, proving his physical integrity and human rights. They then put him at the judge's disposal at the Reclusorio Sur in Mexico City, where he was needed.
