A Romanian national's scam came to a screeching halt after a U.S. District Judge convicted him for identity theft, targeting individuals on public assistance to illegally siphon EBT funds, the Department of Justice announced. Florin Duduianu, a 39-year-old resident of Mission Viejo, California, was slammed by Judge John W. Holcomb with a guilty verdict after a two-day bench trial on two aggravated identity theft counts.
In August 2023, as police were on their tail to crack down on EBT fraud across Placentia banking institutions, Duduianu was spotted pulling out cash from an ATM with various cards and then misleading cops by claiming he was depositing not withdrawing money. However, upon his arrest, officers uncovered multiple Visa gift cards encoded with EBT numbers and a heap of ATM receipts from the withdrawals that tallied up to $1,850 which no doubt tied him to the crimes. The victims whose accounts were raided assured upsetly that they never met Duduianu or his associate and hadn't permitted any transactions, the Justice Department reported.
Further damning evidence included photos and videos related to ATM skimming and an insurmountable collection of EBT numbers from various states found on Duduianu's phone, alongside an incriminating article on EBT fraud shared with his accomplices. An additional smartphone, recovered at the scene, contained videos of ATM skimming and was used to check the balance of the victimized EBT accounts mere days before the actual theft took place.
Before these findings, Duduianu had already admitted guilt on January 5 for three counts of bank fraud and unauthorized access device use, sentencing for which is planned for March 29 where he could be hit with up to 30 years for each bank fraud count, another 20 for unauthorized access devices, and a mandatory two-year increase due to the aggravated identity theft verdict. The case was investigated by the FBI and Placentia Police Department, with Assistant United States Attorneys David Y. Pi and Diane B. Roldán leading prosecution efforts.
