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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Two people charged with illegally electronically “skimming” an ATM in Hoover waived preliminary hearings today, and their felony cases will be forwarded to the Jefferson County grand jury.

Antonio Velikov, 40, and Mariana Biserova Pashova, 34, were arrested May 20 on a charge called crime against intellectual property, alleging that they illegally tried to access computer data.

A Hoover police officer arrested them after spotting them hanging out at an ATM outside the Regions Bank branch in the 1500 block of U.S. 31. The officer discovered they had attached an electronic skimming device to the ATM to capture personal information of anyone using the machine.

When Velikov’s and Pashova’s room was searched at a Birmingham hotel, police found 320 counterfeit credit cards, $51,432 in cash and sophisticated tools used to place the skimming devices.

Police say Velikov, of Palatine, Ill., and Pashova, of Miami Beach, were part of a nationwide ring that had netted more than $1 million across the United States.

Both will remain without bond at the Jefferson County jail. The two may ultimately face federal charges, officials have said.

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