Carol Stream man nabbed in international ATM fraud scheme

A 47-year-old Carol Stream man is one of 17 people charged in an international ATM card fraud ring.

Alexander Savov and 16 others are accused of using ATM and debit card information stolen in Europe to withdraw funds in the United States and then split the proceeds, according to federal prosecutors.

Savov and others were arrested Tuesday, while two were arrested in Sofia, Bulgaria. Most of the other area defendants were from Chicago and Schiller Park.

The indictment seeks forfeiture of roughly $200,000 from 15 of the defendants.

Prosecutors said some of the defendants, including Savov, transmitted card data to be used for the fraudulent withdrawals. Part of the scheme included timing withdrawals shortly before and after midnight in the time zone of the issuing bank to circumvent daily transaction limits.

All 17 defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.