A 27-year-old Southern California man says he doesn’t know the other suspects in a credit card "skimming" operation in which more than $150,000 was stolen from six Hawaii financial institutions last year.
Akop Tadevosovich Changryan pleaded not guilty Thursday to three counts of first-degree identity theft and will go on trial the week of Oct. 10 before Circuit Judge Michael Wilson.
Changryan was indicted in March with two other California men for allegedly installing skimming devices inside gas pumps at four Aloha Island Mini Mart stations. The devices recorded account numbers and PIN codes when customers used their credit and debit cards to buy gasoline from Sept. 9 to 24.
The information was used to make counterfeit credit and debit cards, which were used to steal money from 156 accounts, an indictment said.
Changryan was arrested July 29 after being extradited from California.
Also arrested and scheduled to go on trial this year is Ariak Davtyan, 45, of Los Angeles. He was extradited from California in May.
The third suspect, Karapet Kalantryan, is still at large.
Changryan and Davtyan are being held in Oahu Community Correctional Center, unable to post bail of $500,000 each.
William Harrison, Changryan’s attorney, said after Thursday’s arraignment that "this is a case of mistaken identity."
He said Changryan does not know the other defendants in the case.
An Oahu grand jury indicted the three men March 22 on eight counts for allegedly installing skimming devices at four Aloha Island Mini Mart gas stations on Oahu.
The men parked a rented van to block the view of what they were doing at the gas pumps, the indictment said. Changryan allegedly had a master key and used it to open the front panel of the pumps and attach electronic skimming devices. The other two defendants served as lookouts.
The three men were indicted on eight counts, including identity theft, conspiracy and fraudulent use of a credit card.
Changryan was convicted earlier this year for participating in a similar credit card skimming operation in California in July 2010.
