EBT Theft Investigations Lead to Arrest, Seizures in California and Romania

Credit and ATM card skimming device found inside a gas station pump in a file photo. The New York County District Attorney's Office

Federal law enforcement officials announced Sept. 9 the arrest and arraignment in Los Angeles of a Romanian national for his alleged role in a conspiracy to steal electronic benefit transfer—better known as EBT—payments totaling more than $580,000.

Charged with the use and attempted use of unauthorized access devices and conspiracy to use the devices, Andrei Bogdan Arteni faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and fines as high as $250,000 on each charge.

Arteni is accused of participating with other individuals in a complex scheme to use so-called skimming devices and cloned bank cards to illegally withdraw funds from unsuspecting victims’ accounts using ATMs across the state.

“Stealing public assistance funds from those who need it most takes greed to a new depth,” U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in a Sept. 9 statement. “With this case, we are enforcing laws designed to protect the security of electronic payment devices and ensure public confidence in everyday transactions.”

Between October 2023 and March 2024, Arteni and co-conspirators targeted disadvantaged communities—where high numbers of residents receive food and housing benefits—and unlawfully placed skimming devices on point-of-sale terminals in grocery stores and other retailers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

Data skimmed from government-provided benefit cards were allegedly subsequently encoded onto fraudulent bank cards that the group used to withdraw funds from ATMs.

Those impacted were located throughout Southern California—in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Riverside—and were recipients of public assistance benefits meant for low-income families to assist with the purchase of housing, food, and other goods.

“EBT fraud is especially devastating as it targets our most vulnerable community members and can cause extreme financial hardship,” Jason Reynolds, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s San Diego Field Office, said in a statement.

The group allegedly rented storage units and an AirBnB using false identities. A case was built through the use of surveillance photos from ATMs in San Diego County where fraudulent withdrawals were made, according to the federal complaint.

Arteni was arrested in Santa Ana in Orange County on Sept. 5 and is ordered to be held in jail until his next appearance for a hearing in federal court in San Diego at a date yet to be determined.

Authorities searched two storage units in the Orange County City of Newport Beach and National City—in southwestern San Diego County—seizing skimming devices, jewelry, and more than $550,000 in cash. Household items discovered in the Newport Beach unit that contained cash concealed within them were allegedly destined for shipment to Romania, said authorities.

Romanian law enforcement searched 10 residences across the eastern European nation—seizing more than $190,000 in U.S. currency and 200,000 euros, in addition to two properties in the cities of Iasi and Podu Iloaiei.

A U.S. official said the international collaboration between investigators is helping uncover multifaceted conspiracies.

“Homeland Security Investigations is dedicated to working with our foreign law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle trans-national fraud groups who victimize U.S. banking institutions and government programs for their financial benefit,” Eddy Wang, Los Angeles special agent in charge of the investigation, said in a statement. “This case is an example of how [Homeland Security] will go to great lengths to bring those who perpetrate these crimes to justice.”

A person holds a California State Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card in Oakland, Calif. on July 17, 2002. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

U.S. attorneys are prosecuting the case, with investigative assistance provided by a host of agencies, both domestic—including the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and National City Police Department—and foreign agencies, including the Romania Public Ministry Prosecutor’s Office of DIICOT, Galați Territorial Service, Galați and Iași Police-Organized Crime Brigades.

Authorities are requesting anyone who had benefits stolen to notify the San Diego County’s Department of Health and Human Services Agency. All thefts must be reported within 10 days.

The recent arrest and charges follow similar actions against other Romanian nationals earlier this year when the U.S. Department of Justice charged three individuals for their alleged role in a similar scheme to skim data and withdraw benefits from ATMs.

In that case, nearly $23 million of benefits payments were allegedly stolen by conspirators in northern California between January and March 2024.

In a prior case, Romanian national Marius Oprea, 38, was sentenced to 75 months in prison in April after he pleaded guilty in June 2023 to leading a ring of criminal actors in a scheme to skim data and access California benefits recipients’ Bank of America accounts.

“[Oprea] illegally entered our country for one purpose—to take advantage of the weaker ATM security here, which does not require cards containing computer chips,” according to the government’s sentencing memorandum, which was quoted in an April statement. “He pursued fraud like a full-time job, netting thousands of victims’ accounts.”