ATM thief jailed after targeting 180 cash machines nationwide

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 14 Nov, 19:19 · Archive

Bogdan Gasparov was jailed for three years and six months after stealing over £16,000 using homemade cash-trapping devices fitted to 180 ATMs across the UK.

Bogdan Gasparov, aged 40, was jailed for three years and six months after stealing more than £16,000 through a nationwide ATM crime spree. Between May and October 2026, he targeted at least 180 cash machines using homemade cash-trapping devices.

Gasparov's method was methodical. He would appear to carry out legitimate transactions at an ATM before installing a homemade device and leaving the area. When unsuspecting customers then attempted to withdraw money, their cash would become trapped inside the machine. Gasparov would later return, remove the device and take the money.

The scale of his offending was extensive. Locations targeted included cash machines in Harlow, Essex; Bury St Edmunds, Lowestoft and Sudbury in Suffolk; Great Yarmouth in Norfolk; and Huntingdon and Peterborough in Cambridgeshire. His crime spree stretched much further across the country, with ATMs targeted around Nottingham, Oxford, Somerset, Bristol, Derby, Gloucester, Lincoln and the West Midlands, as well as parts of Scotland and Wales.

The Eastern Region Special Operations Unit's Proactive Economic Crime Team investigated the offences and reviewed CCTV from several locations, which repeatedly showed Gasparov at crime scenes. On 8 October, officers executed a warrant at his home on Hardie Road, Dagenham, where they discovered him hiding in a crawl space in the loft.

A search of his vehicle uncovered clothing worn during the offences, several homemade cash-trapping devices and tools and equipment used to manufacture them.

How it is being reported

• Deported ATM thief continued crime spree after illegally returning to UKATM thief Bogdan Gasparov jailed for three years and six months after targeting 180 cash machines nationwide with homemade devices and stealing £16,000.Colchester Gazette · 14 Nov, 12:41
• Deported ATM thief continued crime spree after illegally returning to UKATM thief Bogdan Gasparov jailed for three years and six months after targeting 180 cash machines nationwide with homemade devices and stealing £16,000.Brentwood Guardian · 14 Nov, 12:41
• Deported ATM thief continued crime spree after illegally returning to UKATM thief Bogdan Gasparov jailed for three years and six months after targeting 180 cash machines nationwide with homemade devices and stealing £16,000.Echo (Basildon) · 14 Nov, 12:41

In this story: Bogdan Gasparov · Eastern Region Special Operations Unit · Dagenham · Essex

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