Hunter/Lang
03/11/25
One of the suspects charged for his alleged part in stealing over $13,000 from Iowa City convenience store ATM’s faces additional charges.
Iowa City Police say 22-year-old Daniel Villegas and 50-year-old Cristian Chira walked into L&M Mighty Shop on East Burlington Street just before 11:15 Thursday morning and began using the two ATM’s at different times. They allegedly used a special card that contained a code that overrode the ATMs’ functions and forced them to dispense all of their cash at once. The code on the card also alters the ATM ledger, showing the transactions as being legal and approved by a customer’s financial institution. The combined amount of stolen cash is listed at $13,080.
Villegas and Chira were captured by police when they arrived at another store location that uses the same company’s ATM.
Police now say the scam was conducted on the same type of ATM all across the state at the same time, resulting in losses estimated between $700,000 and one million dollars.
Villegas, who has no known address, was initially charged with 1st Degree Fraudulent Practice and 1st Degree Theft. He now faces additional charges of Conspiracy to Commit a Non-Forcible Felony and Unauthorized Access of a Computer. If convicted on all counts, he could be sentenced to a maximum of 26 years in prison.