Three members of a credit card skimming operation have been sentenced to significant prison terms after targeting customers at retail stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as announced by the Dallas County Criminal District Attorney's Office. Gheorge-Ciprian Hilitanu, Victor Tecu, and Ionut Firan-Alexandrau pleaded guilty to multiple felonies related to a scheme that stole financial information from at least 783 victims in July 2025.
The Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center led the investigation, revealing that the defendants installed hidden skimming devices on payment terminals at CVS and Walgreens locations. These devices captured debit and credit card data, which was then used to create counterfeit cards or make unauthorized purchases.
Following their arrests, law enforcement recovered over 150 skimming devices, 237 re-encoded gift cards with stolen information, and numerous fraudulent identification documents from an Airbnb where the group was staying.
On June 25, 2026, Hilitanu was sentenced to 30 years for engaging in organized criminal activity, while Tecu and Firan-Alexandrau received 20-year sentences each on June 29. Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot emphasized the impact of financial crimes on everyday individuals.