Romanian brothers plead guilty in $760,000 SNAP fraud scheme

Two Romanian brothers residing unlawfully in the United States pleaded guilty in federal court to participating in a wire fraud scheme involving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits that affected victims across multiple states, U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson for the Western District of North Carolina announced.

Marian Ovidiu Dumitru, 37, and Catalin Dumitru, 39, both Romanian citizens, each pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with the scheme. The case is part of the Department of Justice’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, which was created in April to target fraud against federal benefit programs.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald, who leads the National Fraud Enforcement Division, said the division would not tolerate theft from public benefits programs and vowed to pursue offenders “with the full force of federal law.” Ferguson said the defendants came to the United States illegally and preyed on vulnerable SNAP recipients, stealing benefits intended for those in need and reselling goods purchased with them for profit.

According to court records, between July 2024 and August 2025, the defendants and their co-conspirators were members of an identity theft ring that defrauded SNAP programs in New Jersey, Massachusetts and other states of more than $760,000. Prosecutors said they used skimming devices installed at ATMs, fuel pumps and other locations to steal data from electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards used to distribute SNAP benefits. That stolen information was then loaded onto counterfeit bank cards, gift cards and other access devices, which the defendants used at large membership warehouse clubs to buy bulk quantities of items such as coffee, candy, energy drinks and baby formula.

In one instance cited in court records, the defendants used counterfeit cards loaded with stolen SNAP EBT information from Massachusetts and New Jersey to purchase more than $15,600 in goods from a membership warehouse club in Gastonia, North Carolina, and more than $19,000 from another location in Pineville, North Carolina. Prosecutors said the defendants then transported, resold or intended to resell the stolen merchandise. The scheme victimized more than 10 individuals, with some suffering substantial hardship, according to court records.

Investigators also found the defendants in possession of 15 or more counterfeit and unauthorized bank cards cloned with stolen SNAP EBT account information, along with blank cards bearing magnetic strips, court documents show.

Each defendant faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the wire fraud charge. A sentencing date has not been set, and a federal district court judge will determine the sentence after weighing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Ferguson credited Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and other state and local partners for their work on the investigation. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Frick and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Kinlaw of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte are prosecuting the case.

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