A Romanian man has been indicted on federal charges for executing a series of sleight-of-hand scams at Target stores nationwide. Bobi Covaciu, 38, faced a court in St. Louis, pleading not guilty to wire fraud following his arrest in Texas and subsequent transfer to Missouri, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri.
Operating between September 2023 and September 2024, Covaciu is accused of deceiving cashiers into thinking he had paid in full for his purchases when in reality he secreted away bills, shorting the retailer often by hundreds of dollars each time. After his sleight-of-hand tricks, he had the gall to return items for full cash refunds in more than a dozen states.
According to the indictment referenced by the U.S. Department of Justice, one particularly bold instance had Covaciu pocketing $2,300 out of a $2,865 transaction. The indictment elaborates on the methodology of his alleged crimes, detailing how Covaciu purportedly played his confidence game across eastern Missouri Targets and beyond.
If convicted of wire fraud, Covaciu could face serious time—up to 20 years in prison—and a potential financial hit of a $250,000 fine. It's stressed, however, that the charges against him are just that: charges. An indictment does not stand as evidence of guilt, reflecting merely an accusation, with the presumption of innocence maintained unless proven guilty. The case, spearheaded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, is handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf.
