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Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Yahoo
Skimming Scheme: The Romanian crime ring stealing EBT benefits in Kern County
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The California Department of Social Services is a multi-million dollar cash cow to foreign thieves and has been for decades. On Monday, Feb. 3, the first business day of the month, hundreds of people arrived at the Kern County Human Services Department. They wanted help, and when they didn't get it from the county, they called 17 News. When we showed up, dozens of people surrounded us, saying their benefits had been stolen. 'I had my benefits stolen for the fourth time now in the last two years,' Lauren Kriewaldt said. 'I went to WinCo, had the basket full of all of our food, go to swipe my card, it's declined. So I call and I'm left with 97 cents on my card for the rest of the month,' said Branda Cofield. 'I don't know what I'm going to do': Hundreds at Kern County Dept. of Human Services seek answers over lost funds Both had EBT cards — electronic benefit transfer cards. They work just like ATM cards and it's how the county delivers some welfare benefits. At Human Services, hundreds of people reported their EBT cards had been hacked and drained just hours after they were reloaded with funds meant to feed hungry families for a month. 'It was a thousand dollars,' Federico De La Rosa said. 'A thousand dollars of my benefits were completely swiped off,' said Chas McGoyne. The withdrawals occurred in different cities and at different banks, all at about the same time of day. They occurred at 6 a.m. on the first day of the month, right after benefits were deposited. The next business day, victims were at Human Services and calling 17 News. The Kern County Human Services Department answered with a shocking reality. This is not welfare fraud. This is not recipients getting benefits to which they were not entitled. 'There was a total of $292,233 that was reported in those 426 theft reports, so that was for January,' said Cindy Uetz, with Kern County Human Services Department. Nearly $300,000 was stolen from taxpayers in just one month in Kern County alone. The monthly losses were astonishing, and the yearly losses, even more so. Over $6.8 million was stolen during 2024 in Kern County. That's $18,579 dollars a day, every day of the year. This is not welfare fraud. This is not recipients getting benefits to which they were not entitled. Instead, it's a sophisticated international crime ring breaking into bank accounts to steal the public's money. Our first stories focused on the benefit recipients and emphasized they would be reimbursed for money stolen from their cards. The Kern County Department of Human Services was helpful, providing statistics. But when we followed up with stories about the magnitude of loss to taxpayers and pressed for accountability from officeholders, information became scarce. The Department of Human Services, which described the January losses, refused to tell 17 News how much was stolen in February and March. The county said it didn't know how much had been stolen in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Over $400 million stolen in EBT benefits from California since 2021 17 News filed a public records act request. The county denied it, stating benefit amounts stolen are protected from disclosure by federal regulations, government, and welfare and institutions codes. We kept digging. Then we contacted the California Department of Social Services. Data from the agency revealed statewide losses of more than $439 million in EBT hacking theft since 2021. In January, California taxpayers lost more than $14 million in stolen benefits. Kern County DHS stopped telling us how much is being stolen, but they did say there were thousands of EBT thefts — tens of thousands in 2023 and 2024. What are authorities doing about it? In Kern County, not very much. EBT thefts happen so often and have been happening for so long that the county doesn't even make police reports anymore. Criminals get away with this crime so often that even with 10,000 reported thefts last year, one member of the Kern County Board of Supervisors praised the District Attorney's Office as one of the most aggressive for prosecuting just three cases. It's been going on since at least before the pandemic, but before our investigation started, only two busts with four suspects had been linked to EBT thefts. Kern County Supervisors were not informed by DA's office of ongoing EBT theft The Kern County District Attorney's Office took credit for the arrests, issuing news releases reporting the amount of money stolen in EBT thefts had dramatically decreased, but DA investigators hadn't really cracked the cases. $18,579 dollars a day, every day of the year. Local investigators had been informed by the state that unusual withdrawals were being made and where they were happening. 'We received a suspicious activity alert regarding EBT cards,' said District Attorney's office investigator Michael Brummett. 'It's an alert that CDSS gives us through email.' DA investigators raced to the bank where withdrawals were happening and, allegedly, caught the scammers red handed. It had now been a month since 17 News initially broke this story, with weekly and sometimes daily updates on this issue. What are Kern County leaders doing about this? Romanian card skimmers targeted Arvin, Visalia and Santa Maria, reports say District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer refused to answer questions about this issue, instead referring all inquiries to previously sent news releases. Are county supervisors, state senators, and our representatives in Washington aware of the severity of this issue? Or aware of this problem at all? We called their offices, emailed, messaged. No one spoke to 17 News about this, except Supervisor Jeff Flores. 'I have been notified actually through the press, in the great work of 17 covering these stories,' said Kern County District 3 Supervisor Jeff Flores earlier this year. 'I've not been notified by the DA on the specific amounts in Kern County or EBT fraud. I am periodically updated by the DA on a number of crime issues, enforcement issues, things in my District, but not on EBT yet.' But two days after he spoke with 17 News, Supervisor Flores sent his own news release, apparently in response to the interview. He praised Zimmer and her investigators. He said: 'We are one of the most aggressive DA's Offices in the state investigating and prosecuting cases related to EBT skimming fraud.' The first Kern County arrests for EBT theft happened Nov. 1, 2024. The defendants are Fernando Stantu, Mari-Mar Milica, and Alberto-Ionel Baran, allegedly arrested with 48 fraudulent cards, and over $15,000 in stolen cash. They allegedly started making fraudulent transactions just before 6 a.m. at Wells Fargo and Bank of America ATMs on California Avenue. They each drove luxury cars, and all said they were transients. As they were booked, they told officers they had no addresses, that they were homeless, but investigators noted they were well dressed and driving rented luxury cars: a Cadillac and an Infinity. Stantu and Milica posted bail but never showed up to court. Warrants have been issued for their arrest. Baran was ordered held on $150,000 bail and remains in custody. Two months later, Norbert Karaba was arrested on Jan. 2, 2025. He was allegedly making fraudulent transactions just after 6 a.m. at a U.S. Bank on Ming Avenue, then at a Wells Fargo on Panama Lane. Investigators said he was driving a rental BMW M4 and claimed to be a transient. Karaba was arrested allegedly with almost $64,000 in stolen cash and 78 cloned EBT cards. And what did those defendants have in common? We examined dozens of police reports and court records and independently verified they all were Romanian nationals. Romanian rearrested on EBT theft charges ordered held without bail They each drove luxury cars, and all said they were transients. The pattern in the defendants' way of operating was becoming clearer — all Romanian nationals, operating early in the mornings, the first days of the month. Luxury cars and claiming no address. Was this a Romanian crime ring? Was this the Romanian Mafia? Were they working together Was Kern County now dealing with a crime ring? The District Attorney's Office won't say. Other law enforcement agencies, who arrested Romanians allegedly committing fraud, were more forthcoming. 'Yes, I would say both, Romanian and international crime,' said Wasco Police Lt. Alecio Mora. 'They go all over the state committing these type of crimes.' The cards they used in Kern County were simple blank and preloaded gift cards, the kind you can find hanging on racks in every grocery or clothing store. All a scammer really needs is a blank magnetic strip onto which they can load stolen EBT account information. And they work fast. 'How many transactions were conducted per minute using the cards that you recovered?' asked prosecutor Anthony Yim in court. 'Approximately one to two,' answered lead investigator Michael Brummett. Man charged with 6 felonies in alleged EBT fraud In the case against Nortbert Karaba, District Attorney investigator Michael Brummett explained how scammers make transactions so quickly. 'The number is the balance to the EBT card,' Michael Brummett. The gift cards had two stickers with handwritten numbers on the back. One sticker is the PIN and the other the account's balance available for withdrawal. No time wasted per transaction. March 3 was the first day business day of the month, and three days later Karaba and Baran were in court. The District Attorney announced another suspect had been arrested for EBT theft. Another Romanian man arrested the first day of the month, over that weekend. This is organized crime. They know what they're doing, they have the technology, and the training to pull it off. Wasco Police Department Lt. Alecio Mora Bogdan Boceanu was allegedly making fraudulent transactions at an ATM in Delano. Investigators say he was caught with 36 cloned EBT cards and over $4,000 in stolen cash. This wasn't the first time Boceanu was arrested on similar charges. The Wasco Police Department said he attempted to tap into a Bank of America ATM on July 2, 2024, just before 9 a.m. Video surveillance allegedly showed him placing a skimmer in the ATM. 'This is organized crime. They know what they're doing, they have the technology, and the training to pull it off,' said Lt. Alecio Mora. 'And they're really creative when it comes to committing this type of crime.' Boceanu was arrested in July. He posted bail but the DA didn't file a case against him until January. In March, Boceanu was rearrested, and denied bail. Gypsy Church regrets bailing out Romanian defendants in Kern County He was the first Romanian accused of EBT theft denied bond under a law which says suspected illegal funds cannot be used to post bail. In a bail review hearing, Boceanu's attorney told the judge that the Romanian Gypsy Church of Riverside intended to pay for his bail. The same church that bailed out Norbert Karaba. But prosecutor Anthony Yim said the church was the bail sponsor of all Romanian defendants, including two who have failed to appear — Milica and Stantu. During the same hearing, Alberto-Ionel Baran's $150,000 bail was changed to no bail, as requested by the DA's office. 17 News contacted Doru Bobby Moise — pastor of the Romanian Gypsy Church in Riverside, who was behind the sponsorship of these bails. He declined to comment, saying only he regretted posting bond for those defendants. And said their families had asked him for help. Then, he stopped communication with 17 News. Investigators said, they were never able to touch base with Moise. Even with the defendants in jail, EBT thefts did not stop in Kern County. Were more people operating in this apparent ring? We turned to the California Welfare Fraud Investigators Association for answers. With decades of experience in EBT theft investigations, its members know the weaknesses of our welfare system. 'I can tell you, unequivocally, this is organized crime,' said Shawn Ferris, Vice President of the California Welfare Fraud Investigators Association. 'There is no way it is happening at the volume it is happening. There's no way that it is happening with the groups that we're seeing. And just looking at the devices, these were not made by some guy in his garage. These are professionally made, in their professional groups that set up systems to attack public assistance benefits.' They showed examples of deep insert skimmers. We knew about the skimmers put atop card terminals, but deep inserts are planted inside ATMs and are positioned quickly, with a special tool. This is how criminals can get your account number. But how do they get your PIN? With a pinhole camera. Yes, the lens is the size of a pinhole. That is all they need to clone EBT cards. California issuing new EBT chip/tap cards as $2.5 million in cash aid stolen from Kern County residents Benefits cards don't have chips. They work using magnetic strips — just like gift cards. Chip information is harder to steal. Banks have higher security and fraud protection than the state's benefits program. 'The technology in the system, in the card is weak,' Ferris said. 'The program rules are weak, and you combine those two together with a lot of ingenuity on the part of criminals, and a lot of support from organized crime, it's a very lucrative business for them. So, they're not going to stop just because we arrest a few people. It's a much bigger problem than that.' As a response to the problem, the state rolled out tap to pay, chip cards in February, but experts say more needs to be done. 'The chip cards are basically still, at the time they were released, they were outdated technology,' said Ferris. 'We need to be matching with what the banking system is doing day-to-day.' The CWFIA received the February results for chip card usage from the California Department of Social Services. It showed 884,000 chip cards were mailed, but 8,700 were returned as undeliverable. Is it possible to have your card skimmed through Apple Pay? So far, only 302,000 cards have been activated, and 78% of users failed to use the more secure tap-to-pay function and instead reverted to swiping the card's magnetic strip. Only 8% successfully used chip. The CWFIA says the chip is a huge step forward, but it isn't foolproof. Clever thieves learn to work around it. 'They'll disable the tap, or they disable the chip function, and if you imagine anybody that's ever gone to a gas station where they try and use the chip or tap, and it doesn't work, and they're in a hurry, what do they usually do? They slide their card,' Ferris said. Investigators say it's imperative the California Department of Social Services, which distributes billions of dollars every year, starts acting like a banking institution. This would mean improving and investing in its biometrics security. The chip cards are basically still, at the time they were released, they were outdated technology. Shawn Ferris, Vice President of the California Welfare Fraud Investigators Association 'Facial recognition, thumb print. Again looking at banking standards and what the banks use. If you try and use your credit card or ATM it has fraud alerts, it has biometrics built into it, it has security questions,' Ferris says. 'Those are all layers of security that will help us secure these benefits so the right people get them.' 'The banking industry suffers about a 3% theft loss,' said Gregory Mahony, President of the California Welfare Fraud Investigators Association. 'Our estimates right now are about 20% in the EBT card.' Banking level security also includes daily withdrawal limit, which EBT cards don't have. These thefts are not being treated as real thefts. Making it harder to respond to a problem whose true scale is unknown. 'Previously the customer was required to complete a police report. That's no longer the case.' said Uetz. CWFIA members said this decision came from state bureaucracies, attempting to make crime statistics look better. But that is counterproductive, investigators said, as it brings fewer resources to law enforcement and fraud agencies statewide. Romanian accused of EBT theft in Kern County faces 40 new felonies while out on bail 'We can identify millions taken. But that millions is taken out of the country, it is laundered, it is moved through the purchase of goods and moving it along,' Mahony said. 'It has gotten so bad where we start talking about money in that aspect that the California Department of Social Services EBT card is now becoming a source of money laundering.' As 17 News prepared this story, Norbert Karaba was rearrested on the same charges. Two weeks after his first arraignment, while he was out on bail, Karaba allegedly went to the Dollar Tree in Delano and put a skimming device on the register's card terminal. He was arrested in Northridge, in Los Angeles County, alongside two other Romanians — 51-year-old Nicolae Bud, and 29-year-old Giorgio Marcelo. They were found in a home allegedly with parts to build card skimmers and pinhole cameras, cloned cards, card readers, and over $40,000 in cash. Karaba caught 14 new felonies while out on bail, including second degree burglary, money laundering, and conspiracy. Giorgio Marcelo was charged with 10 felonies, and Nicolae Bud faces five felonies. Karaba's bail was revoked, and the two others were held without bail. Seven Romanian nationals have been identified in Kern County for EBT fraud, but there's no official word of an international crime ring operating in our community. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Yahoo
Over $400 million stolen in EBT benefits from California since 2021
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — What started as dozens of complaints at the Human Services offices for stolen benefits evolved into the revelation of a years-long problem of EBT theft across California. In response to a KGET request, the California Department of Social Services calculated its losses since 2021 at an astounding amount of $439 million in stolen EBT benefits. Those losses started at less than $100,000 per month halfway through 2021 and skyrocketed ever since. The state is now losing more than $10 million per month of taxpayers money to thieves who steal from EBT accounts assigned to other people. Recipients are reimbursed for their losses, but taxpayers must make up the losses. Arrests and prosecutions are extremely rare. In Kern County, only two cases have been filed against alleged EBT thieves and less than $80,000 of the $6.8 million stolen has been recovered. The state doesn't keep track of how much stolen money has been recovered statewide. Reimbursements represent approximately less than 3% of benefits provided statewide, while millions of tax paying dollars are still unaccounted for. Fisherman films deer swimming in Lake Isabella We asked the Department of Social Services how many cases are being investigated statewide on EBT theft. We did not receive a concrete number for that question. The Department said it continues to work with local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to mitigate the theft of EBT benefits, and multiple investigations are ongoing and arrests have been made. Lauren Kriewaldt got $800 of her benefits stolen on Feb. 2nd, and got her reimbursement a week later. 17 News talked to Kriewaldt at the Department of Human Services and she says she still struggled to get them back after calling and complaining to the human services department. A video tutorial was posted back on Oct. 2022 on the state Social Service YouTube page that explains the rise of credit card fraud through skimming devices, while giving tips on how to keep safe from it. As for 2025, EBT thefts do not appear to have slowed down statewide. In January 2025, over $14,181,029 in benefits were stolen. Of that, almost $200,000 was reported lost in Kern County by the DA's Office. The Department continues pushing their ebtEDGE app to monitor benefits, while asking users to delete all other EBT benefits apps, as these could also be stealing user information. The Kern County Department of Human Services provided the following information: EBT website – CDSS website – EBT Helpline – 1-877-328-9677 Online help at DHS Call Center – 1-877-410-8812, or come into any DHS office location Safety Measures include, downloading the mobile app using ebtEDGE Mobile App from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Do not use other unauthorized sites. Utilizing the new EBT chip/tap card when received. Another good idea would be to switch to receiving your benefits via direct deposit through your bank. To report suspected fraud, contact fraudprevention@ Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
