David Constantin, the architect of a major unemployment fraud scheme that plundered over $5 million from California's pandemic relief funds, received a five-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay full restitution, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. His accomplice, Constantin Bobi Sandu, previously sentenced in 2023, will serve 40 months behind bars.
Between July 2020 and August 2022, the duo collaborated with 213 co-conspirators in a calculated attack on a system meant to be a lifeline for struggling workers amidst a global health crisis. This week, four other participants in this far-reaching scheme faced sentences and restitution orders: Eduard Buse with 34 months, $244,050; Constantin Iosif Constantin's term spans 32 months, $281,000; Leonard Miclescu at 15 months, $34,650; and Filip Nicolae, with 13 months, and $26,250 due in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Additional defendants implicated in the scheme, including Florentina Sima and Florin Nicolae, were also handed their sentences—with Sima already serving her time and Florin Nicolae anticipating sentencing at the end of this month. Plea agreements expose a narrative of deception, where the defendants feigned citizenship status and employment history and concocted fake documents to siphon off funds meant for actual California residents in dire need during the pandemic.
Contrary to the defendants' claims of needing the funds for family support, investigations revealed the misappropriated funds underwriting lavish lifestyles and expensive assets, like a 2020 BMW purchased by Buse topping over $100,000, that was shipped to Romania.
The U.S. Attorney's office affirms that the pursuit of justice is ongoing, as unnamed co-conspirators remain at large. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Adeline Schulberg and Valerie H. Chu are steering the prosecution efforts. Sanctions for those involved in the fraudulent activities run severe, with wire fraud and money laundering charges carrying penalties that could include decades of imprisonment and fines scaling into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
