OAKS, Calif. – Federal officials say that three people stole millions of dollars from EBT recipients and low-income families all over the state of California.
Federal cops from another country and the US Secret Service (USSS) worked together on the case.
It has been charged that Petrica Mosneagu, 44, Ionut Sopirla, 38, and Virgil Tudorascu, 42, stole EBT account information from low-income people and took cash out of those accounts without permission.
Mosneagu and Sopirla were caught in Oakland on Tuesday afternoon. Tudorascu was caught in Oakland early Thursday morning. The Santa Rita Jail took all three of them in and wouldn’t let them out on bail.
The men, who were all from Romania, are accused by federal officials of taking cash from fake EBT cards that had real card information on them. Authorities say they got information about people who got EBT by scanning their cards at ATMs or point-of-sale machines.
Federal officials say they are suspected of stealing almost $23 million from EBT recipients who depend on the money to buy food and other things they need for their homes.
Over 14 months, from March 2023 to March 2024, the USSS led an investigation that included the Berkeley, Oakland, Pleasant Hill, and Richmond Police Departments, as well as the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security, and the San Francisco Human Services Agency-Special Investigations Unit.
It was also looked into by the USSS in Bucharest and the Romanian National Police.
The men are due in court on Wednesday. If found guilty, they could spend up to 10 years in jail.
