Romanian accused of EBT fraud appears in court while benefit thefts decrease in March
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — 24-year-old Romanian, Alberto-Ionel Baran is facing five felonies and one misdemeanor including money laundering, grand theft and fraudulent possession of a scanning device.
On Tuesday, Baran's case faced another setback in the justice system, scheduling yet another pre-preliminary hearing in his case for late April.
The Human Services Department had 426 reimbursement requests for January. In February, there were 504 benefits thefts and in March, there were 204 thefts.
The county refused to disclose the dollar amount these thefts resulted in and said it has no record of thefts before 2025. Baran was arrested alongside Fernando Stantu and Mari-Mar Milica at the Bank of America on California Avenue, on Nov. 1, 2024.
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The three Romanians were allegedly fraudulently withdrawing EBT from the ATM, just after 6 a.m.
They were found with over $15,000 in stolen cash, 48 cloned cards, and skimming devices.
A skimming device is a deep insert that goes into the ATM and clones cards.
Stantu and Milica posted bail and never showed up to court. A warrant is out for their arrests.
Baran was initially given a $150,000 bail, but was then changed to no bail.
He is due back in court on April 25.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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