An accused ATM skimmer swallowed a Kingston flash drive during a federal raid in a desperate attempt to destroy potentially incriminating evidence.
According to the Smoking Gun, Florin Necula ingested the flash drive shortly after his January 21 arrest outside a bank in Queens, New York, while in the custody of Secret Service agents.
“Necula grabbed Subject Flash Drive 2, which had been on his person at the time of his arrest, and swallowed,” Agent Joseph Borger noted in a search warrant affidavit obtained by TSG.
“When Necula was unable to pass the item after about four days, doctors – concerned that the drive was not compatible with the suspect’s GI tract – concluded he would be injured if they allowed the flash drive to remain inside of him.”
Necula – who eventually agreed to allow doctors to remove the item at a New York Downtown hospital – was charged with obstruction of justice and three additional felonies.
Indeed, prosecutors have accused Necula and three other individuals of placing card readers over ATM slots to “skim” magnetic strip information off cards inserted in the compromised machines.
It should be noted that a number of electronic devices were confiscated in subsequent raids, including laptops, cameras, flash drives and cell phones.
