Bristol Grocery Skimmer Bust Nets Miami Man, $250K Bail, One Suspect Still Loose

Employees at the All Fresh supermarket on Pond Street in Bristol Borough caught a familiar face lurking near their card terminals last week — and this time, they didn't let him walk out. Workers detained 38-year-old Ionut Adrian Oprea of Miami, Florida, until officers arrived, after recognizing him and a second man from a similar incident inside the same store roughly a month earlier. Oprea now faces felony charges tied to a skimming scheme investigators say specifically targeted customers who use EBT benefits to buy groceries.

Oprea was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Charles Jonas on two counts each of criminal conspiracy, unlawful device-making equipment, and possession of an instrument of crime, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office. Bail was set at $250,000 at 10 percent, and Oprea was remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility following his arrest on August 20. Police say he used card-skimming devices designed to steal customers' information, targeting EBT accounts at the Bristol supermarket, as reported by CBS Philadelphia.

The case traces back to July, when the same two men allegedly visited the store and attached a skimming overlay over a legitimate card terminal, according to a detailed account from PhillyVoice. Investigators determined the pair worked in tandem on both occasions: one man paid in cash to distract staff at the register while secretly installing the device, while Oprea loaded groceries into a cart and kept watch for employees. When workers intervened on August 20, the second suspect fled on foot toward Wood Street and remains at large.

Devices Built to Beat Detection

The recovered hardware included custom electronic keypads, batteries and wiring, and was attached over the legitimate card terminals with a strong adhesive that made the devices difficult to detect, per the same CBS Philadelphia account. The devices recovered in Bristol were specifically designed to target EBT accounts, and authorities say this was not the first skimming device found in Bristol or elsewhere in Lower Bucks County. Investigators are still working to determine whether other businesses in the county were targeted and how many people may have been affected.

The Bristol Borough Police Department carried out the investigation jointly with the Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General, which investigates public assistance fraud statewide, the Office of State Inspector General notes. Investigators have asked anyone who recognizes the second suspect, has surveillance footage, or suspects a device was placed at another business to contact Bristol Borough police.

Families Left Without a Safety Net

Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan said the scheme targeted people who rely on EBT benefits to buy food, and that the loss of those benefits can immediately affect families who depend on the accounts for groceries. Khan added that households relying on EBT accounts must wait until the following month for replenishment after money is drained, since there is currently no mechanism to make victims whole sooner. Maryanne Venturino said the people targeted by the scheme are trying to make ends meet and feed their families, while a Bristol resident named Gary called the situation heartbreaking.

That gap exists because federal authorization allowing states to replace SNAP benefits stolen through electronic skimming expired on December 20, 2024, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. Congress had previously authorized temporary replacements under a law passed in late 2022, but that authority has since lapsed, leaving state agencies unable to reimburse stolen funds through federal program dollars. More than 1.7 million Pennsylvanians, including children, seniors, and residents with disabilities, depend on monthly SNAP food assistance delivered through EBT cards, per the Senate of Pennsylvania.

Statewide Losses Push Lawmakers to Act

The scale of the problem is significant. More than $15 million in SNAP benefits were stolen from Pennsylvania cardholders through skimming devices during 2024, and the state recorded over 5,100 EBT skimming cases between January and May of this year alone, totaling roughly $2.5 million in stolen benefits, according to the state Senate's figures. Nationwide, EBT account skimming drained an estimated $607 million from public assistance recipients in 2025, with Pennsylvania accounting for nearly $20 million of that total, data compiled by industry research firm Propel and reported by Hoodline shows.

In response, the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 362 in June, creating specific criminal offenses for EBT card skimming and elevating penalties to a third-degree felony for a first offense and a second-degree felony for repeat offenses. The bill passed 49-0 after input from the Department of Human Services and the Inspector General's office. Separately, the state announced in July that it plans to spend $14 million to issue EMV chip-enabled EBT cards to more than 2 million SNAP recipients and upgrade store payment terminals to block skimming devices, a project that qualifies for a 50 percent federal reimbursement match, according to Spotlight PA.

Until those upgrades reach store counters, police are urging businesses to inspect card terminals daily and check for anything loose, bulky or out of place. EBT users are being advised to monitor their account balances closely and report any unauthorized transactions as soon as possible. Bristol's case echoes earlier skimming losses in Butler and a similar wave of thefts in Fayette County, both of which left Pennsylvania SNAP recipients scrambling after their balances vanished with no quick way to recover the money.