BULGARIAN NABBED WITH 816 CLONED BANK CARDS

MANZINI – A man of Bulgarian origin has been arrested in South Africa after being found with over 800 ATM and debit cards in his possession, mostly belonging to Swazis. 

The arrest follows a year-long intense investigation by the Royal Swaziland Police and their South African counterparts into the Nedbank Swaziland card skimming scam. Momtchilov Vladimir Lachezarof was arrested at his residential place in Sandton, South South Africa on Monday by the South African police and was found with a total of 816 counterfeit ATM and debit cards in his possession. Lachezarof was with his wife at the time of his arrest, who was also found with 22 counterfeit debit cards. 

In July 2015, over 2 000 customers of Nedbank Swaziland lodged complaints to the bank after they discovered that their money was being withdrawn from their accounts while their ATM cards were in their possession. Through the card skimming, the bank suffered a loss of almost E300 000.

While in Swaziland, Lachezarof is said to have used the name Marco Friedman after having obtained Swazi identity documents.
According to a document filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Nkosinathi Maseko, Lachezarof was found in possession of a Swazi passport, with number 10029609 and an identity card 7701156100485, registerd in the aforementioned name (Marco Friedman). 

The suspect was also found in possession of various cables for hi-tech devices and electronic components when he was arrested. 
He is due to appear at the Pretoria Magistrates court today.
The document filed by the DPP stated that on July 27, 2015, a crime of fraud was reported at the Mbabane Police Headquarters by Penuel Gwebu.

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