ATM Scammer Jailed After Swindling Former St Johnstone Striker
An ATM scammer whose card skimming scheme saw a former St Johnstone star fall victim to his fraud has been jailed.
Alexandru Uzum was sent to prison for 10 months and co-conspirator Eduard Zamosteanu was given a community payback order after they fitted a "card trapping" device and a camera on an ATM in Perth Road, Scone.
Former Saints striker - and now Police Scotland officer - Nathan Lowndes then used the machine and had his details stolen.
Uzum and Zamosteanu were loitering nearby in a BMW waiting for someone to use the machine - then used the card to steal £200 from his account the next day.
The pair tried to repeat the scam at the same machine - but were caught when an alert witness ripped the device from the ATM and spotted the pair lurking across the road.
Fiscal depute Trina Sinclair told Dundee Sheriff Court that Lowndes had been coming home from a night out and stopped at the machine to get money to pay his taxi.
She said: "It asked him to remove his card before money was dispensed but it failed to eject.
"He briefly inspected the ATM in an attempt to see his card but couldn't see it.
"He waited several minutes for it to be returned without success and eventually decided to leave it in the belief it must be faulty.
"The following morning he received a text message telling him to contact his bank urgently because there had been suspicious activity."
Zamosteanu admitted possessing the card trapping device between May 20 2015 and June 9 2015.
Uzum admitted using the stolen details to operate an ATM and steal £200.
Uzum also admitted he later installed the device again at the same machine on May 28 to prevent bank cards from being ejected by the machine in a bid to steal a bank card and PIN number.
Uzum, 25, of Edinburgh, and Zamosteanu, 27, a prisoner at HMP Perth, pleaded guilty on indictment at Dundee Sheriff Court.
Florin Necula, 36, of Edinburgh, had his not guilty pleas to similar charges accepted by the Crown.
It emerged the pair both had previous convictions in Denmark for identical offences - while Uzum had also been jailed in Spain previously over domestic abuse charges.
Sheriff Alistair Carmichael jailed Uzum for 41 weeks and imposed a community payback order on Zamosteanu imposing 200 hours unpaid work.
Nathan Lowndes, 38, signed for St Johnstone in 1998 and became a firm fans' favourite on their run to third place in the league and the League Cup Final in his first season at the Perth side.
He later moved to various English sides - but returned to Scotland to set up home in Perthshire upon his retirement from football.
Lowndes is now an officer with the Police Service of Scotland in Tayside.