3 days ago
Another Romanian convicted for EBT theft in Kern County
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — On Friday, Bogdan Boceanu was convicted of stealing EBT benefits from needy families in Kern County.
Boceanu was found with more than $4,000 in stolen cash and 36 cloned EBT cards. He will serve 16 months in a Kern County Jail. His defense accepted an indicated sentence by the Judge Elizabet Rodriguez.
This marks the second conviction in the romanian crime ring stealing EBT benefits.
Let's take a look back at how we got here.
Bogdan Boceanu was arrested in Delano and had an outstanding warrant. Through our investigation we learned he was first arrested in July of 2024 at the Bank of America in Wasco.
That was where he tried to place a skimmer in the ATM to clone cards.
He posted bail and the case was not filed by the DA until January 2025. Three months later he was re-arrested at the Wells Fargo in Delano and not given bail.
The first Romanian convicted was Alberto-Ionel Baran, who was given an indicated sentence of two years by Judge Gloria Cannon. At the end of his court case it was announced Baran had 175 EBT fraudulent cards that had over $121,000 in stolen benefits.
Baran's sentencing is scheduled for June 3, and Boceanu's for August 22.
Three Romanians accused of EBT theft are still making their way through Kern's court system, they are Norbert Karaba, Giorgio Marcelo, and Nicolae Bud.
Mari-Mar Milica and Fernando Stantu are still wanted for their total stands at seven linked to EBT theft by Kern's Romanian Crime Ring.
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