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Six men will spend a combined 13 years and seven months behind bars after stealing £120k from cash machines
The ATM hackers stole the cash after they installed malware on machines in Gravesend, Northfleet and Bromley.
Footage showing some of the group hacking into a machine
Petru-Giani Feraru, Razvan Danaila, Robert Danaila, Victor Camara, Ioan Constantin and Constantin Lupoaie each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and were sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court yesterday.
They also targeted machines in Colchester, Greenwich, Barking and Basildon across early 2020.
Each of the offenders was involved in an organised crime group that tampered with the wiring of cash machines.
They would then attach an electronic device which contained malware that prompted the cash dispenser to hand out money.
Detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate gathered a variety of evidence, including CCTV footage which linked Feraru, Camara and both Danailas to seven offences committed last January.
This included the targeting of individual machines in London Road, Northfleet, and Valley Drive, Gravesend, on January 11 and 17 respectively.
The four men were detained in Essex on the night of January 30 and, following their arrests, officers uncovered video on Feraru's phone which showed the inner workings of a cash machine.
On April 6 a further offence took place in Basildon. Essex Police officers promptly attended and, following a search of the area, stopped Constantin and Lupoaie for a search.
They went on to find Lupoaie in possession of a laptop used to hack the machine and messages on his mobile phone that detailed the offending.
Feraru, 23, of no fixed address, was sentenced to two years and one month and Razvan Danaila, 30, of Garnett Way, Walthamstow, was sentenced to two years and six months.
Robert Danaila, 25, of Ilford Lane, Ilford, and Camara, 32, of Eldeland, Basildon, were both sentenced to two years and four months behind bars.
Constantin, 27, of The Gore, Basildon, was sentenced to three years and four months.
Lupoaie, 18, of no fixed address, was sentenced to one year for conspiring to steal on 6 April 2020.
DC Terry Hanlon, investigating officer for the case, said: "Each of these offenders were involved in a sophisticated and well organised conspiracy that resulted in a substantial amount of money being stolen from law abiding businesses.
"Despite going to great lengths to commit their offences, and committing them across several policing areas, we were able to painstakingly gather a trail of evidence they had overlooked.
"Had they not been detained, I have no doubt that they would have continued to offend and I am pleased that they are now unable to do so.
"Their successful prosecution is a clear demonstration that Kent Police, and its partners, have the resources and expertise to target high profile offending, regardless of how sophisticated the offenders believe they are."
