A trio of Romanian nationals has been slapped with charges of access device fraud for allegedly milking millions from electronic benefit transfer (EBT) accounts in California, law enforcement said. According to the United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and United States Secret Service's Shawn Bradstreet, the individuals are Petrica Mosneagu, 44; Ionut Sopirla, 38; and Virgil Tudorascu, 42, caught in the act of siphoning funds from accounts meant to assist low-income families with food and essentials.
In a meticulously coordinated operation led by the Secret Service, the suspects were arrested this week in California's Southern District. The sting marks the culmination of a fourteen-month investigation into the widespread thievery of EBT benefits, as detailed by officials. The looting of some $22.8 million in station identification has wreaked havoc from January to March this year, authorities claim. Skimmers, handy at ATMs or sales terminals, enabled the bandits to clone cards and plunder accounts, according to public criminal complaints.
The accused parties allegedly produced cloned cards from the skimmed data, repurposing debit and gift cards with magnetic strips to mirror legitimate EBT cards. Victims were oblivious to their information being copied and their Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) captured through cunningly placed overlays on keypads. Such techniques allowed the defendants to make cash withdrawals and purchases under the radar.
If convicted of the alleged crimes, Mosneagu, Sopirla, and Tudorascu could face a jail sentence of up to ten years for each charge. With their fates hanging in the balance after preliminary hearings, defendants Mosneagu and Sopirla will have a court face-off on April 10 before the Honorable Kandis A. Westmore for their detention hearings, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Tudorascu is set to take the stand on the same date after his appearance last Thursday.
Yet according to the law, Mosneagu, Sopirla, and Tudorascu remain innocent until proven otherwise - the presumption of innocence a cornerstone of the justice system while the allegations of criminal complaints are put to the test. The prosecution's onus, carried by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexis James and Special Assistant Zachary Glimcher, alongside their investigatory teams, must establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The investigation was a collaborative effort involving numerous agencies, including the Homeland Security Investigations, regional police departments, and the Romanian National Police. Their painstaking work underscores the seriousness with which fraud, especially against the vulnerable, is confronted by U.S. law enforcement.
