Two Bulgarian nationals who plundered nearly $20,000 from cash points across the island using cloned gold credit cards have been jailed for four months.

Chavdar Bachev and Georgi Todorov were caught red-handed with the cash as they tried to leave the island early after the crime spree.

Last night the Department of Public Prosecutions said it would appeal against the “manifestly inadequate” sentences passed down on the pair by Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons at Supreme Court.

“The Crown will immediately file an appeal in this matter as we will seek an increase in sentence as the current sentences are manifestly inadequate in all the circumstances,” Larry Mussenden, Director of Public Prosecutions said.

During yesterday’s sentencing hearing the court heard that Bachev and Todorov stole $4,500 from HSBC, $4,100 from Butterfield Bank and $11,300 from Clarien using bogus credit cards that were later recovered from the ATMs.

The duo told police that they had found a bag containing the credit cards as well as a stash of cash in a bus stop as they sheltered from the rain.

They admitted to officers that they used the cards to steal from ATMs and “got greedy” before trying to flee the island.

Their lawyer, Richard Horseman, said: “They came to Bermuda to go diving, and they hope to come back.

“This was not a carefully planned exercise, it was a crime of opportunity.”

Mr Horseman maintained that his clients, who have been in custody on remand for the last two months, should be sentenced to time served in custody for offences they admitted, which included theft and money laundering. He also revealed that all the money stolen had been returned. However prosecutor Loxly Ricketts insisted the sentence should be between three and four for the theft and one to two years for the money laundering due to the multiple withdrawals and the impact on the financial sector and customer confidence.

Mr Mussenden said: “The court rejected the ranges suggested by the Crown and started with a range of 12 months for the theft. The Court then rejected all of the aggravating factors suggested by the Crown and relied only on the mitigating factors suggested by the defence.

“The sentence given was four months concurrent on the theft offences and three months concurrent on the money-laundering offences.”

Bachev, 42, and Todorov, 41, were arrested by police at LF Wade International on February 16, this year, as they tried to leave the island.

The pair were searched and officers discovered $8,700 in Bermuda currency and $1,693 in US currency on Bachev, while Todorov had $9,500 in Bermudian money in a slipper in his luggage.

Inquiries by the three banks revealed that the two Bulgarians had withdrawn $19,900 from several cash points in Hamilton and across the island between February 12 and 14. The duo had also wired $2,700 out of the country to a third party.

Furthermore they cloned card details related to customers thousands of miles from Bermuda in Italy, Great Britain, Belize and Sweden.

Bachev and Todorov pleaded guilty to three charges of theft, relating to money taken from the three banks.

Bachev, 42, also admitted two counts of money laundering that involved him trying to transfer funds outside Bermuda, while Todorov, 41, admitted one similar money-laundering charge.

Passing sentence Judge Simmons said she had made deductions from the 12-month starting point she felt appropriate due to the defendant’s previous good character, early guilty pleas and “loss of family life” adding: “The offences you have pleaded guilty to are not the most serious in our criminal law.”

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