THREE Romanian nationals will face trial for a non-bailable case after allegedly skimming millions of pesos from the government-owned Landbank of the Philippines (LBP).
The Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office found enough evidence to charge Ionut Alessandrou Mitrache, Ion Costel, and Stancu Razvan Aurelian with theft in relation with the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and Republic Act (RA) 8484 for the unauthorized use of access devices. A cohort is still at large.
Cebu City Prosecutor Liceria Rabillas said she approved the recommendation of investigating prosecutor Maria Theresa Casiño not to grant the foreigners bail.
The offense carries the penalty of reclusion perpetua of up to 40 years, which makes it non-bailable.
The offense is more severe as it was done with the use of skimming devices like the microchip scanners, improvised skimming tool and clone cards.
For the RA 8484 or the violation of Access Devices Regulations Act, the bail is set at P24,000.
The National Bureau of Investigation-Central Visayas has received the commitment order from the court to detain the Romanians in the Cebu City Jail.
The Romanians were caught on March 17 with skimming devices, caps and polos, which were captured in LBP’s closed-circuit television cameras. (JO/SunStar Cebu)