The Supreme Court heard how an American visitor stole a little more than $100,000 from bank machines in a series of transactions over the course of eight days.

Derek Telles, 38, pleaded guilty this year to charges that he stole $100,070, along with charges of possessing the proceeds of crime, converting criminal property and transferring criminal property.

The court heard that in June, HSBC began investigating a series of ATM transactions in which modified MarketPlace gift cards were used to make a series of withdrawals at machines across the island.

Images of the suspect were recovered from cameras at the machines, and on June 4 a security officer noticed an individual matching the suspect’s description approach an ATM in Dockyard.

However, the machine was out of order, and the suspect left the area.

Hours later, at 8.15pm, officers viewing CCTV footage noted the same individual, now in different clothing, at the Rural Hill ATM machine in Paget and alerted the police.

Police located Telles, who showed the officers a Chase Bank card in his name.

However, a search of his rented Twizy revealed a card reader on the floor.

As the investigation continued, subsequent searches revealed slightly more than $3,000 in cash along with two MarketPlace gift cards and a Brazilian and American passports with his picture and different names.

Immigration later confirmed that Telles had arrived on the island on May 27 and had made two previous trips to the island this year.

In an initial police interview, Telles said that he had no idea where the card reader had come from, claiming he found it on the floor of the vehicle, and that he had found the MarketPlace gift cards on the ground.

Two days after his arrest, police were informed that a suitcase had been dropped off at the office of Bruce Swan, Telles’s lawyer, by an unknown man.

A search of the luggage revealed about $12,000 in cash along with luxury bags, perfumes, an iPhone and an Apple Watch among other items.

Khadija Beddeau, for the Crown, said that a total of $100,070 had been stolen using 12 MarketPlace gift cards, with the first transaction taking place mere hours after he arrived in Bermuda on May 27.

She said: “The sole purpose of this gentlemen entering Bermuda was to commit these offences, and he started right away.”

She said that in addition to the money and items recovered, police had uncovered evidence of a $10,000 Moneygram transaction, but there was no indication of what happened to more than half of the stolen funds.

Mr Beddeau added: “This person has entered Bermuda as a visitor. We have seen him enter multiple times in 2025. This was a well-thought-out and conceived plan.”

In all the circumstances, she suggested a sentence of three years behind bars for the theft, along with 16 months behind bars for each of the other offences.

Mr Swan argued that a sentence of between nine and 15 months would be more appropriate, with the other offences garnering sentences of between six and nine months.

He told the court that Telles was remorseful for his actions and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

He added that his client had struggled with medical issues and addiction in the wake of the death of his parents.

Mr Swan also said that the thefts had not affected Bermudian account holders, as all of the accounts were linked to a Latin American banking institution.

Telles said: “I’m very, very sorry for my choices that I made with my life that hurt so many people.”

He went on to say that no one had been harmed by his “white-collar” crime, stating: “The insurance paid that. It’s already paid off.”

Asked why he committed the offence, he said he was “struggling”, and that the last he knew, all of the money he had taken through the scheme was in his suitcase.

While he asked the court for leniency, stating that he was a good person, Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe responded that he believed most people at Westgate were good people who had made mistakes.

The judge said: “You are no different than 95 per cent of the gentlemen up at Westgate who are good people who made some really, really bad choices.”

Mr Justice Wolffe remanded Telles until January 2, when the matter is scheduled to return for a final sentence.

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