Romanian Citizen Arrested and Charged in $5 Million Covid Relief Fraud (Press Release, March 2, 2023)

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, dated Thursday, March 2, 2023, announcing that Constantin Sandu of Romania was arrested and charged in a federal complaint with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to the complaint, from fall of 2020 until late summer of 2022 Sandu conspired with 214 unnamed Romanian co-conspirators to obtain California unemployment insurance benefits using fabricated documents, fictitious businesses and falsified W2s and earnings statements. The complaint states that Sandu conspired to obtain no less than $5,207,687.00 in benefits. The release lists Case Number 23-mj-00697-AHG and a maximum penalty of thirty years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

PRESS RELEASE



Romanian Citizen Arrested and
Charged in $5 Million Covid Relief
Fraud
Thursday, March 2, 2023


For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of California
SAN DIEGO – Constantin Sandu of Romania, a suspected organized crime figure, was
arrested and charged in a federal complaint today with masterminding a scheme to
steal more than $5 million in California unemployment insurance benefits intended to
help workers impacted by the pandemic.

According to the complaint, Sandu conspired with 214 unnamed Romanian co-
conspirators across California and in Romania to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars
in California unemployment insurance benefits by fabricating documents, creating
fictitious accounts and businesses, and filing bogus claims with California’s Economic
Development Department, which administers the state’s unemployment benefits.

“According to the complaint, this defendant presided over a vast
network of international swindlers to exploit a program meant to help
struggling California workers survive the pandemic,” said U.S.
Attorney Randy Grossman. “The pandemic may be waning, but we are
still aggressively investigating allegations of COVID relief fraud. The
scheme alleged in this case diverted millions of dollars from those
who truly needed it.”
Grossman thanked the prosecution team and the investigating agencies for their
excellent work on this case.

Sandu was arrested by FBI San Diego on March 1, 2023, at the Imperial Beach Border
Patrol Station. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court this
afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard at 2 p.m.
“FBI San Diego would like to thank our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners
for addressing this problem in a unified effort,” said Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy
of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “These benefits were offered with the intention of
helping struggling families stay afloat and were a critical lifeline for many. Sandu’s
alleged greed diverted those funds for his own personal gain. The FBI and our partners
will continue to identify those who commit pandemic-related fraud and hold them
accountable for their crimes.”

“The San Diego Police Department is committed to investigating and solving crimes
committed by organized crime rings. The arrest of Constantin “Bobi” Sandu is the
culmination of a yearlong investigation by Economic Crimes Unit detectives and multiple
law enforcement partners. We will continue to collaborate with these partners to arrest
the over 200 suspects involved in this investigation.”

“IRS Criminal Investigation and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate
individuals and organizations who target relief programs as a way to steal funds from
critical programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher of the Los Angeles Field
Office. “It is especially egregious when criminal organizations think they can profit off of
the United States and steal funds that are intended to aid citizens during times of
need. IRS-CI is committed to aggressively investigating these crimes and bringing those
criminal organizations to justice.”

The complaint said that beginning in fall of 2020 and continuing until late summer of
2022, Sandu and hundreds of unnamed co-conspirators learned and developed a
process to receive the most benefits possible by using fraudulent identifications, falsified
utility bills, falsified earnings statements, falsified W2s, fraudulent Health Insurance cards
and non-existent companies. Additionally, Sandu learned to “backdate” or modify the
EDD applications with an earlier unemployment start date to generate even bigger pay
days.

Co-conspirators across California would share information, knowledge and resources
with Sandu, for Sandu to file claims for regular unemployment insurance and expanded
pandemic unemployment insurance benefits from California EDD. Co-conspirators
communicated with Sandu via Facebook or other electronic means or met with him in
person to provide their Personal Identifying Information, known as PII.

According to the California Franchise Tax Board, none of the companies in the various
W2’s submitted for conspirators’ EDD applications was real. According to Blue Cross
Blue Shield, none of the member identification numbers submitted for conspirators EDD
applications was real.
In total, Sandu conspired with unnamed co-conspirators to fraudulently obtain no less
than $5,207,687.00 in California Unemployment Insurance benefits.

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely
accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

DEFENDANT                                  Case Number: 23-mj-00697-AHG

Constantin Sandu,
aka Bobi Sandu, aka Ionut Mihai             Age: 33              Transient, Romanian

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Title 18, U.S.C. § 1349 and 1343 - Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud; U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C)
Criminal Forfeitures; Title 28, U.S.C. § 2461(c) Civil Forfeitures

Maximum penalty: Thirty years in prison, $1 million fine

AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation

San Diego Police Department Economic Crimes Unit

Internal Revenue Service

California Employment Development Department Investigative Division

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Department of Labor Office of Investigator General

Contact
Assistant U. S. Attorney Jessica Adeline Schulberg (619) 546-9664
Updated March 2, 2023

Component
USAO - California, Southern
Release Number: CAS23-0302-Sandu


File and source

File

2023-03-03-Romanian-Citizen-Arrested-and-Charged-in-5-Million-Covid-Relief-Fraud-USAO-SD-CA-03-02-2023.pdf

Size

199,485 bytes

SHA-256

bdf2d8303cd83fa33c7cbe117829149eca42db8038ab6c436360c38ff8caf75a

Our copy

2023-03-03-Romanian-Citizen-Arrested-and-Charged-in-5-Million-Covid-Relief-Fraud-USAO-SD-CA-03-02-2023.pdf

Original

No public link identified.