Man involved in “deliberate” and “elaborate” spate of thefts from ATMs

By  Eimear Dodd

A man involved in a “deliberate” and “elaborate” spate of thefts from ATMs in Dublin city and county over a three-day period has been jailed.

Sergiu Lupo, also known as Sergio, pleaded guilty to 43 counts including theft, attempted theft and criminal damage between June 3 and June 6, 2019.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Lupo (39) was involved in a spate of thefts from AIB

ATMs in various locations across Dublin city and county including in Artane, Stillorgan, Dundrum, Crumlin, Tallaght, Clondalkin, Rathfarmham, Finglas, Swords  and Portmarnock.

An investigating garda gave evidence that there were 24 separate incidents during the three-day period. €7,260 was taken and has not been recovered.

A further €7,147 in criminal damage was caused.

Lupo of Lexington Close, Cambridge further pleaded guilty to assisting in the commission of an indictable offence between June 6 and June 7 2019 at Sutton Cross.

In this incident, he kept watch while two other men took cash from an ATM, then drove them away.

Imposing sentence yesterday, Judge Orla Crowe said this was a “deliberate spree of offending across the city and county of Dublin”.

The judge noted this offending took place late at night and involved the “deliberate targeting of ATM machines” using an “elaborate system to trap cash”.

The judge said this scheme caused “expense and inconvenience to AIB” and to members of the public who were unable to use the affected ATMs.

The judge said the amount of offending in a “deliberate organised, and targeted fashion” meant that custodial sentence had to be imposed.

She also said the amount of damage and the money taken was aggravating as well as the fact that Lupo “made himself unavailable and had to be extradited back”.

Having considered the mitigation and Lupo’s personal circumstances, Judge Crowe imposed a global sentence of two years and six months, backdated to November 15, 2024 to give credit for time served in custody.

The garda gave evidence that the offending was broadly similar in each incident.

The garda outlined that a card was inserted into an ATM and a small amount of money withdrawn.

While the money was being presented, small pieces of plastic would be placed into the cash dispenser before it closed.

A card would then be put back into the ATM and €600 requested.

While the machine prepares to bring the money to the cash dispenser, a non-bank card was slid over the ATM card, which is removed from the machine.

The machine holds the card as a safety mechanism, and as the cash dispenser doesn’t open, the cash becomes trapped.

The cash dispenser door was damaged, while the trapped cash was taken from the machine.

In some cases, the money belt was also damaged.

The court heard that the scheme was not successful on every attempt.

Amounts of between €50 and €600 were taken from affected machines, while the damage caused in each incident were estimated between €107 and €932.

The court also heard that a garda on patrol in Sutton Cross spotted three men acting suspiciously at an ATM in the early hours of June 6, 2019.

One man was at a cash dispenser, then a second man joined him.

Lupo was keeping watch across the road and then drove the other two men away from the area.

Gardai stopped the car on its way to Howth and found items including a pliers and a screwdriver inside.

The three men were arrested.

Around €323 of damage was caused to this ATM and €560 was taken, which was later recovered.

Lupo admitted being at Sutton Cross but denied any wrongdoing and said he was not actively involved.

He was not interviewed about the other ATM thefts, the court was told.

He was later charged and granted High Court bail but left the jurisdiction.

He was extradited back to Ireland in December 2024.

Lupo has no previous convictions in Ireland or in any other jurisdiction.

He has also not come to negative garda attention since this incident.

The court heard that two other co-accused have already been sentenced.

Lupo is married with two children. His wife was in court to support him.

Dominic McGinn SC, defending, outlined to the garda that his client’s offending came from the need to pay for his father’s medical treatment. The garda said she was unaware of this.

The garda accepted that Lupo went to Romania after leaving this jurisdiction, before returning to the United Kingdom.

It was further agreed that Lupo spent some time in detention in the UK before his extradition to Ireland.

Mr McGinn told the court that Lupo’s father’s health deteriorated in May 2019 and money was required to pay for his surgery.

His client came to Ireland with the promise of a job and “fell into company of others who persuaded him of an easier way to make money”.

After getting bail, Lupo went back to Romania, where he raised money from other sources to pay for his father’s treatment.

Lupo returned to the UK where he continued to work and studied until his arrest.

A number of documents were handed to the court, including a death certificate for Lupo’s father, who passed away in 2021.

Counsel noted the passage of time since this offending occurred but acknowledged that is also “because Lupo did not make himself amenable to justice”.

Mr McGinn submitted this was a short and isolated period of offending by his client, who was previously of good character.

Lupo has been in custody since returning to Ireland on December 5, 2024 and is an enhanced prisoner.