Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson has announced that a Romanian national, Doru Adamesc, also known as "Petru Golban," has been sentenced to 27 years behind bars followed by three years of supervised release for his involvement in conspiracy to commit access device fraud. This sentence came down from U.S. District Judge Nannette J. Brown on June 26, following Adamesc's guilty plea. He was also hit with a $100 mandatory special assessment fee, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
In the nefarious scheme executed last year, Adamesc and a partner engaged in a calculated ruse; purchasing items in stores to get close to the credit card machines. Adamesc took advantage of the distractions caused by his co-conspirator to install card skimming devices. The operation came to an abrupt end when Adamesc was arrested on June 5, 2024, after he returned to a store to retrieve one of the devices. The investigation led to the recovery of two large magnets and cell phones, one of which contained a telling photograph of about 60 gift cards, as per court filings.
Law enforcement officers managed to seize six credit card skimmers that Adamesc had failed to collect. Those devices had captured information from roughly 421 credit, debit, and EBT card numbers. The Acting Special Agent in Charge of the USDA-OIG, Matthew Wilkins, expressed appreciation for the collaboration, stressing the importance of bringing to justice those who compromise government-funded programs. "Those who are involved in fraud regarding USDA taxpayer funded programs will be investigated by our office and brought to justice to protect the integrity of those programs," Wilkins stressed in the U.S. Attorney's Office statement.
St. Tammany Sheriff Randy Smith lauded the collective efforts that led to Adamesc's arrest, noting the breach of trust involved in the crime. "Installing skimming devices to steal innocent people’s financial information is not only illegal — it’s a violation of trust," Sheriff Smith said according to the U.S. Attorney's Office press release. "I’m proud of the relentless effort our team put in to protect the people of St. Tammany Parish and beyond."
