An Orlando man in possession of thousands of individuals’ credit card numbers was sentenced to five years behind bars after he made fraudulent purchases on one of the cards owned by the Orlando Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton sentenced 25-year-old Andy Teruel Colina of Miami and 31-year-old Adrian Teruel of Orlando this week to federal prison for their roles in using counterfeit devices and stealing the identities of others.
The men, who are brothers, both pled guilty this past August. Adrian Teruel was sentenced to 8 months for producing, using, or trafficking in one or more counterfeit access devices, while Colina was sentenced to five years for aggravated identity theft and possession of 15 or more counterfeit, unauthorized access devices.
According to court records, between March 7 and March 14, 2020, fraudulent purchases were made with a credit card assigned to a government-owned vehicle leased by the United States General Services Administration, Office of Inspector General to the Orlando Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Lake Nona in Orlando.
During their investigation, authorities determined that the card was used for diesel fuel purchases exceeding the assigned vehicle’s tank capacity at multiple gas stations in and around Orlando.
The VA confirmed that the credit card was not lost, nor did it have any diesel fuel purchases made during that time period that were authorized by the VA. The total loss on the credit card was determined to be $1,703.23.
Authorities eventually obtained video surveillance showing that the fuel purchases were used on a tow truck operated by the brothers. Through the video surveillance, authorities witnessed Colina using a cloned VA credit card. His brother was also witnessed using unauthorized access devices to purchase diesel fuel for the tow truck on April 11, 2020.
A federal search warrant was executed at Colina’s residence. During their search, agents found a bag containing two camera circuit boards, a credit card encoder, two fuel pump barrel keys, and numerous counterfeit and unauthorized access devices in gift card format.
The agents also found multiple electronic devices that contained credit or debit card account numbers and names associated with the account owners.
In total, Colina was found with over 2,400 individuals’ names and their credit card account numbers.