An alleged bout of greed has landed a California ATM field service technician in jail, accused of swapping nearly $200,000 in fake bills for real money in several San Francisco-area ATMs.

Ex-Diebold ATM Technician Samuel Kioskli

The technician, Samuel Kioskli of San Francisco, worked for Diebold, one of the largets ATM manufacturers in the world. According to ATM Marketplace’s Frederick Lowe, Diebold has a contract to service Bank of America ATMs throughout the Bay Area.

The alleged thefts took place last year during the July 4 holiday. Henry Lee of The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Bank of America found out about the scam after customers sent numerous complaints to the bank after withdrawing counterfeit money.

Kioskli fled San Francisco and was arrested May 11 in Phoenix during a traffic stop.

The SmartVan recently profiled an ATM tech, Brad Marsoobian, one of the good guys who keeps ATMs in gas stations and hotels running throughout California. Although Brad’s company, Superior ATM Services, doesn’t handle the big banks’ machines, he joked that its every ATM tech’s dream to open up up of the machines and walk away with a nice stack of cash. But, as Marsoobian said, “It never happens.” And they’re not crazy enough to try.

Besides, the machines Marsoobian and his employees service are typically only stocked with $300 – $400 in cash, a paltry amount compared with stock in bank ATMs.

(Image courtesy of The San Francisco Chronicle / San Mateo County sheriff)

More about ATM service on The SmartVan