Seven suspects charged following theft of cash in Tunbridge Wells

Seven people have been charged after an ATM was allegedly tampered with in Tunbridge Wells.

Kent Police was called on 5 March 2026 to a report of fraud at a cash machine in Mount Pleasant Road in Tunbridge Wells. It is alleged the machine retained a man’s bank card, and he reported that around £5,000 was taken from his account. 

Officers attended the scene to obtain available CCTV. A review of the footage identified a second possible victim, who had reportedly been defrauded of nearly £1,000.

Arrested

On 12 March, following an initial investigation, proactive patrols near Junction 6 of the M20 stopped a vehicle suspected to be involved in the incident.

Three men were arrested and later searches led to the seizure of skimming devices and mobile card readers.

Further searches at a London address led to four more arrests, and the recovery of bank cards and phones.

Charged

The following people have since been charged with possession of an article for use in fraud:

• Midhun Prabhakaran, 25, Sabitha Nallasmy, 26, Abilash Varunavel, 25, Nataraj Saravana, 51, and Naveen Rajavel, 33, all of Alton Road in Croydon
• Sachin Devendran, 20, of Edridge Road in Croydon
• Kavin Ravi, 22, of Sutherland Road in Croydon, who was also charged with theft.

All parties appeared before Medway Magistrates’ Court on Saturday 14 March and were remanded into custody. They will next appear at Croydon Crown Court on 10 April.

Ms Nallasmy has since been released on conditional bail.