A Brazilian man has been sentenced to three years behind bars for a scheme to use fake bank cards to withdraw cash from ATMs.

Luca Bandeira, 22, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to possession of $66,080 in criminal funds, possession of a machine to create fake credit cards and possession of fake credit cards on June 24 last year.

He also admitted attempting to steal from the delivery services Sargasso Sea and Pronto, and theft of an unknown amount from the same businesses, between July 1 and 10.

Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe said that while he accepted Bandeira’s expressions of remorse as genuine, a message needed to be sent to discourage other would-be fraudsters from targeting the island, dealing him a three-year sentence.

“It’s unfortunate that over the past five to ten years that foreign nationals have deemed Bermuda to be easy pickings when it comes to offences of this nature,” he said.

“Whether or not Bermuda is in fact fertile ground for this type of offence may be arguable, but it is certain that offences of these kinds have an impact on our financial institutions, but most importantly on the victims, whose hard-earned earnings and savings were pilfered.

“A bank is supposed to be a safe place for those who have worked hard to save, and offences like this threaten that safety.”

At a sentencing hearing on Monday, prosecutors said that Bandeira was arrested after police received reports of suspicious activity at HSBC ATMs.

A search of his residence on the island revealed more than $66,000 in Bermudian cash, a number of gift cards, HSBC receipts and equipment used for reading and making cards.

The court heard that the equipment was used to attach bank card details to the gift cards, which would allow the user to withdraw cash from the ATMs.

Bandeira was released on police bail but arrested again on July 10 after police received reports about suspicious purchases from local delivery services.

Victoria Greening, for Bandeira, had told the court that the defendant agreed to take part in the scheme to raise money to stay in the United States, and resorted to further offences to sustain himself after his initial arrest.

Mr Justice Wolffe said on Thursday that the plan to modify legitimate gift cards from various establishments to withdraw large amounts of cash required a degree of sophistication.

“One can only ponder whether he had assistance, whether in Bermuda or overseas, to commit these offences,” he said.

“To compound matters, after the defendant was detected, detained and released on police bail, he by deception managed to order food and other items through the online Pronto/Sargasso app.”

Mr Justice Wolffe said that while the prosecutor’s proposal of a three-year sentence for the offences was “generous”, it was not unreasonably so.

He sentenced Bandeira to three years in prison for money laundering, and two years each for the other four charges, ordering all the sentences to run concurrently.

Mr Justice Wolffe also ordered that the time Bandeira has spent behind bars since July 10 be taken into account.

However, he added that the sentencing range for offences like those before the court should be reconsidered to further dissuade other potential offenders.

“A message must be sent to offenders, particularly offenders who come from overseas, that Bermuda is not a soft option and that when caught, they will be imprisoned for significant periods of time,” the judge said.

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