THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Following the hi tech ATM fraud last week sleuths investigating the ATM fraud in the capital on Tuesday said that the accused Romanians had attempted to contact a premium ATM card printing company based in Navi Mumbai to make duplicate cards of the account holders who lost money. The accused had attempted to contact the personnel of the company through e-mail, according to investigators. However, the police found that the delivery of the mail to the inbox of the personnel of the company failed. The police also said that Gabriel had contacted the company in July after striking the ATM counter at Althara in the city. The police also suspect that the accused had contacted several such small and medium-scale companies seeking help for making the cards. The team in Mumbai is also checking the background of such companies based there who might have helped the Romanians make duplicate cards. A police official on condition of anonymity said, “We have no evidence to prove that the company based in Navi Mumbai was involved in communicating with the fraudsters. We have checked the emails sent by the accused. It was found that the mail sent to the company failed to deliver. However, efforts are on to trace the local hands who had given assistance to the Romanians”. The arrested Romanian, Gabriel Marien Illie has been taken to Mumbai on train by police team for evidence collection. Cantonment Assistant Commissioner K E Baiju is leading the team and Gabriel is expected to be taken at the ATM counter at Worli and the hotel in Vashi where he had stayed with his accomplices before being arrested. The state police have also sought the cooperation of their Mumbai counterparts to carry out the evidence collection in a smooth manner. ]]>
