EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Three Venezuelan nationals said to be in the country illegally have been charged with ATM tampering at a bank in Edwardsville, Illinois.

According to charging documents filed at the Madison County Circuit Court, the crime occurred Thursday, May 29, at the Bank of Madison County in the 100 block of South Main Street.

Security video from the bank showed three people opening the ATM panel with a key and then flee when the alarm went off.

Police said Jose Mora Herrera, 24; Keyler Gimenez Barreto, 19; and Carlos A. Marcanos-Gonzalez, 27, were located a half mile away from the bank following an ATM alarm. The three men matched the description of the suspects in the security footage.

Investigators pointed to an ongoing scheme in which suspects will break into an ATM and then flee to a nearby location when the alarm goes off to observe and time the police response. After the police leave, the suspects will return and re-enter the ATM and install software to override the machine’s programming, causing it to dispense money without authorization.

Police said they found an unauthorized ATM key in the suspects’ car, along with multiple cell phones and computer equipment capable of overriding an ATM. Police also found masks and gloves in the vehicle that the suspects were wearing in the security video.

The Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Herrera, Barreto, and Marcanos-Gonzalez with attempted theft and computer tampering. Prosecutors said the three men are citizens of Venezuela, have no connection to Madison County, and are in the United States without legal status.