Print subscriber but without online access? Activate your Digital Account now.
One of three men in an identity theft case involving credit card information "skimmed" at gasoline stations is scheduled for trial the week of July 11.
A judge scheduled the trial for Ariak Davtyan, 45, of Los Angeles during his initial appearance last week in Circuit Court via video conference from the Oahu Community Correctional Center.
Davtyan was extradited from California on three counts of first-degree identity theft for allegedly stealing more than $150,000 from six Hawaii financial institutions using credit card information stolen from 156 accounts. He remains in custody at OCCC in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Davtyan and two other men — Akop Tadevosovich Changryan, 27, and Karapet Kalantryan — were indicted March 22 by an Oahu grand jury for allegedly installing skimming devices in September at four Aloha Island Mini Mart gas stations on Oahu. The three men allegedly returned to California with the account data the devices recorded and made counterfeit credit and debit cards using the information. The trio was indicted on eight counts, including identity theft, conspiracy and fraudulent use of a credit card.
Kalantryan is still at large. Changryan is scheduled to be sentenced June 3 in California on identity theft-related charges. He is being held in a Southern California correctional facility and will be extradited shortly after he is sentenced, the Honolulu prosecutor’s office said.
The Oahu grand jury indictment said the defendants and an accomplice installed and retrieved the devices between Sept. 9 and 24.
72