Skimming Scheme: The crime ring stealing EBT benefits in Kern County
KGET News
[{'start': '5.238', 'end': '8.174', 'text': 'hatheir EBT benefits  deposited today. That means  anothemonth has passed, and  hundreds of thousands of  dollars more have been stolen  from recipients of government  assistance in Kern County by  scammers and skimmers. And  county officials have done  little about it. Tami: It\'s   shocking story we\'ve been  following for three months  now. e  been asking about the county\'s  seeming indifferenceo th  thefts. $6.8 million dollars  stolen iKern in 2024 alone.  10 thousand thefts that year.   international cri ring  plunde public money. And  in our county, just four  crimal cases filed. Jim:  17\'s Cecilia Trevino broke  this story months ago, and  tonight brings us an inside  look into how these crime  rings are operating. And how  little Kern Coty and the  State of California are doing  to stop th. CT: Th  California Department of  Social Services is a  multi-milliollar cash cow to foreign thieves and has  been for decades. Let me tell  you how I proved that. On  Monday, February 3rd, the  first business day oe  mont hundreds of people  swarmed the Kern County Human  Services Department. They  wanted help, and when they  didn\'t get it from the county,  theyalled us. When we showed  up, dozens of victim  rrounded us, telling us  their benefits had been stolenLy  benefits stolen for the fourth  to  years," Branda Cofield: "I  went to WinCo, had the basket  full of l of our food, go to  swipe my card, it\'s declined,  so I call and I\'m leith 97  cents on my card for the rest  of the month." CT: All had EBT  rds. That\'s Electronic  Benefit ansfer. They work  st liks  hothe county delivers some  welfare benefits. At Human  Services thaday, hundreds of  people reported their EBT  cards had been hacked, drained  just hours after they were  reloaded with funds meant to  feed hungry families for a  month. Federico De La Rosa:  "It was a thousand dollars."  Chas McGoyne"A thousand  dolls of my benefits were  complely swiped off,"  Patricia Romero: "$985,"  Lauren Kriewaldt:  had $880  taken," CT: The withdrawals  occus  and at differentanks, all at  abo6  in the morning, the rst day  of the month, right after  benefits were deposid. The  next business day, victims  were at Human Services and  calling us. We started asking  questions.ern County Human  Services Department answered  with a shocking reality. Cindy  UetzThere was a total of  $292,233 dollars thawas  reported in those 6 eft  reports, so that was f  January. CT: Nearl$300,000  stolen from taxpays in jt  one month in Kern County  astonishing, and the yearlyere  losses, even more so. Over  $6.8 million dollars were  stolen in 2024 in Kern Cnty.  That\'s $18,579 dollars a day,  every day, 366 days a ar.  Thisnot welfare fraud.  This is not recipients getti  benefits to which theyere  not entitled. This is a  sophisticated international  crime ring breaking intoank  accounts to steal the public\'s  ms  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  abouthe magnitude of loss to  taxpayers and pressed for  accountabilityrom  officelders, iormation  became scarce. Human services,  which describethe January  losses, refused  tell us 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. We filed aublic  recoact request. The  county denied it, stating  benefit amounts stolenre  protecty  deral Regulations,  Government, and Welfare an  Institutions codes. We kept  digging. We contacted the  California Department of  Social Serces. CDSS numbers  realed statewide losses of  more tn $439 millilion dollars  of EBT hacking theft since2021.a  taxpayers lost more than $14  million dollars in stolen  benefitsKern DHS stopped  telling us how much iseing  stolen, but they did tell us  there were thousands and  thousands of EBT thefts. Tens  of thousands in 2023 and 2024.  about it? In Kern County, not  very much. EBT thefts happen  so often a havbeen  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-thousand reported thefts  last year & one member of the  Kern Couy Board of  Supervors praised our  District Attorney\'Office as  one of the most aggressive for  prosecuting just thr cases.  It\'s been going on since a  least bere the pandemic, but  before our investigation  started, only two bustwith  four suspects had been linked  toBT thefts. The District  Attorney\'s Office took ct  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.  informed by the state that usual withdrawals were by  the state that unusual  withdrawals were being made and  where they whappening. "We  received a suspicis activity  alt regarding EBT cards,"  said District Attorney  t\'s an alert that CDSS givest,  us through email," DA  vestigatore  bank where whdrawals were  happening and, allegedly,  caught the scammers red  month since wenitially broke  thistory, with weekly and  sometimes dailupdates on  this issue. What are our local  leads doing about this?  District Attorney Cynthia  Zimmer refused to aner  questions about this issue,  instead referrinall  inquiries to pviously sent  news releases. Are our  Supervisors, Senators, and  severity of this issue? Orhe  aware of this problem at all?   c,  emled, messaged. No one  cared topeak on this. Except  Supervisor Jeff Flor. Jeff  Flores: I have been nofied  actually through the press, in  the great work of 17 covering  these stories. // I\'ve not  been notified he DA on the  ecific 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. CT: But two days after he  spoke with us, Supervisor  ores sent his own news  release, apparently in  respon to the interview. He  praised Zimmer and her  investigators. He said, --  quote -- "We are one of the  mosts  in the state investigating and  prosecuting cas related to  EBT skimming fraud." The first  Kern County arrests for EBT  theft happened November 1st,  2024. The defendants are  Fernando Stantu, Marr  lica, and Alberto-Ionel  Baran, alledly arrested with  48 fraudulent cards, and or  $15,000 in stolecash. They  gedly started making  fraudulent tnsactions just  before 6am at the Wells rgo  and Bank of America ATMs on  California Avenue. As they  were bood, they told  officers they had no  addresses, that they were  homeless. Buinvestigats  noted they were well dressed  and driving rented luxury  cars, a Cadillac and an  Infi. Stantu and Milica  posted bail but ver showed  up to court. Warrants have  been iued Baran was ordered  he on $150,000 bail and  remains in custody. Two months  later, Norbert Karaba was  arrested on January 2nd. He  was allegedly making  after 6am at the U.S. Bank on  Ming Ae, then at the Wells  Fargo onanama Lane.  Investigators said he was  drivina rental BMW M4 and  claimed to be a transient.  Karaba was arrested with  allegedly almost $64,000  thousand in sten cash and 78  cloned EBT cards. And what did  those defendants have in  comm? We examined dons of  police reports and court  recordand indepeently  veried they all were  Romanian. Ay  cars, and all saying they were  transits. The pattern in the  defg  was becoming clearer. All  Romaans, operating early in  thmornings, the first days  of the month. Luxury cars,  claiming no address.  Local invesn  informed by the state that  unusug  made and where they were  happening. "We received a  suspicious activit fraud.Mafia? Were they working  together? Was Kern now plagued  with a crime ring? The  District Attorney\'s Office  won\'t sa Other law  arrested Romaniansommitting  fraud,ere more forthcoming.  Mora: Yes, woulday both,  Romanian and International  crime. They go all over the  state committing these type of  crimes. CTThe cards they  used in Kern County were  simple, blank and eloaded  gift cards, the kind you can  find hanging on racks in ery  ocery or clothinstore. All  the scammers really ed is   blank maetic strip onto  which they canoad stolen EBT  accot informatn. And their  operations are fast. Anthony  Yim: "How many transactions  were conducted per minute  using the cards that you  recovered?" Michael Brummett:  "Approximately one to o.In  the case against Nortbert  Karaba, District Attorney  Instigator Michael Brummett  explned how scammers make  transactions so  and  back-to- back.ichael  Brumtt: "The number is the  balance to the EBT card," CT:  The gift cards had two  stickers with handwritten  numbers on the back. One  sticr is the PIN and the  other the account\'balance  available for withdrawal. No  time wasted per transaction.  March d was the first day  business day of the month, and  three days after Karaba and  Baran were in court. The  District Attorney announced  another suspect had been  arrested for EBT theft.  Another Romanian man arrested  the rst day of t month,  over the weekend. Bogdan  Boceanu allegedly s making  fraudulentransactions in an  ATM in Delano, caught with 36  cloned EBT cards and over  $4,000 in stolen cash.his  wasn\'t the first time Boceanu  waarrested on similar  chges. Wasco Police says he  of America ATM on July 2nd,k  2024, just before 9am. Video  surveillance allegedly showed  him placing a skimmer in the  ATM. Lt. Alecio Mora: This is  organized crime. They know  what they\'re doing, they have  training to pull it off. And  they\'re really creative when  it comes to committing this  type of crime. CT: Boceanu was  arrested in July. He posted  bail but the DA didn file  March, Boceanu was rearrested,  and denied bail. He was the  first Romanian accused of   theft denied bond under a law  ich says suspected illegal  fundst  bail. In a bail review  hearing,eanu\'s Attorney  told the judge that the  Romaniansy Church of  Riverside intended to pay for  his bail. Same church th  bailed out Norbert Karabut  prosecutor Anthony Yim said  the l  defendants, including two who  have failed  appear. Those  would be Milica and Stantu. In  this same hearing, Alberto-  Ionel Baran\'s $150,000 bail  was changed to no bail, as  requested by the DA\'s office.  We contacted Doru Bobby Moise,  Pastor of the Romanian Gypsy  Church in Riverside, who was  behind the sponsorship of  thesbails. He declined to  comment, sayinonly he  regretted posting bond for  those defendants. Ansaid  their familiesad asked him  for help. Then, he stopped  communicatiowith us.  Investigors said, they were  never able to touch base with  Moise.  Wais a Romanian Crime  Ring? Was this the Romanian  Mafia? Were they working  together? Was Kern now plagued  with a crime ring? The District  Attorney\'s Oice won\'t say.  Othe ring? EBT thefts did notp  in Kern. Were more people  operating in this apparent  ring? We turned to the CWFIA,  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. Shawn Ferris:  Well, I n tell you  unequivocally this is  organized crime. 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  wg  at the devicesese were not  made by some guy in his  garage. These are  ofessionally made, in their  professional groups that set  up stems to attackublic  assistan benefits. CT: They  showed us examples of Deep  Insert Skimmers. We knew about  the immers put atop card  terminals, like this o. But  Deep inserts are planted  inside ATMs d are positioned  qukly, with this tool. This  is how crinals can get your  count number. But how do  they get your PIN? With this  pinhole camera, yes, the len  is the size of a pin. That  is all they need to clone EBT  cas. Benefits cards don\'t  have chips, ey work through  magnetic strips. Just like  gift cards. Chip information  is harder to steal. And Banks  have higher secuty and fraud  protection thathe state\'s  benefits program. Shawn  Ferris: The technology in the  system, in the card is weak.  The program ruleare weak,  and you combine ose two  together with a lot of  ingenuity on the part of  criminals and a lot of suprt  from organed crime, it\'s a  very lucrative business for  them. So, they\'rnot going to  stop jt because we arrest a  few people, it\'s a much biggproa  response to the oblem, the  state rolled o tap to pay,  ch cds in February. But  expes say we need more.  Shawn Ferris: The chip cards  are basically still, at the  time they were release they  were outdated technology. We  need to be mating with what  the banking syst is ing  day to day. CT: The CWFIA  received the February results  for e chip cards usage from  the Carnia Department of  Social Services. Iows  884,000 chip cards were  maed, but 87 hundred were  returned as undeliverable. So  far, only 302- thousand 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 magnet  rip. Only 8% successfuy  used chip. The CWFIA says the  chip is a huge step forward,  but it isn\'t foolproof. Clever  thieves learn to work around  it. Shawn Ferris: They\'ll  disable the tap, or they  disable the chip function, and  if you imagine abody that\'s  ever gone to a gas station  wherthey try and use the  chip or tap, and it doesn\'t  work, and they\'re in a hurry  what do they usually do?hey  slid:  Investigators say it\'s  imperative thealifornia  Department of Soal Services,  which distributes billions o  dollars every year, starts  acting like a banking  institution. This would me  impring and investing in its  biometrics security all  aroundawn Ferris: Facial  recognition, thumb print,  again looking at banking  standards and whathe banks  use. If you try and e your  credit card or ATM it has  fraud alerts, itas  biometrics built into it, it  has security questions. Those  that will help us secure these  bets so the right people  get them. Gregy Mahony: The  banking industry srs about  a 3% theft loss. Our estimates  right now are about 20% in the  EBT card. CT: Banking level  security also includes daily  thdrawal limit, which EBT  cards don\'t have. These thefts  are not being treated as real  thefts. Ma it harder to  spond to problem which  Previously customer wasUetz:  required to colete a police  report, that\'s no longer the  casd  this decision came from state  bureaucrats, atting to  make crime statistics look  better. But that i  counterpductive,  investigators st  brings fewer resoues to law  enforcement and fraud agencies  statewide. Gregory Mahony: We  caidentify millions taken.  But that millions is tak out  ofhe country, it is  launred, it is moved through  the purchase of s and  moving it along. It has gotten  so bad where we start talking  about money in that aspect   the California Department  of Social Servic EBT card is  now becoming a source of money  laundering." CT:s we  prepared this investigation,  Norbert Karaba was rearrted  on the same charge Two weeks  after his first arignment,  while he was out on bail,  Dollar Tree in Delano and put  a skimming deve on the  register\'s card terminal. He  was arrested in Northridge,  L.A. County, alongside two  other Romanians, 51- year-ol  Nicolae Bud, and 29-year- d  Giorgio Marcelo. They were  found in a home with allegedly  and pinhole cameras, cloneds  cards, card readers, and over  $40,000 in cash. Karaba caught  14 new felonies while out on  bail, including second deg  burglary, money laundering,  and conspiracy. Giorgio  Marcelo was chged with 10  felonies, and Nicolae Bud  faces five felonies. Karaba\'s  bail was revoked, and the  other twwere held without  bail. So, seven Romanianhave  been identifie Kern County  for EBT fraud. Yet, no  ficial word of an  internationacrime ring  operating in our community.  And no elected officials  speaking on th. There\'s more  to our coverage on EBT theft.  Scan the QR code you see on  your scrn for more. For 17  News, I\'m Cecilia Treviño.  Even with the defendants in  jail, EBT thefts did not stop  in Kern. Were more people  operating in this apparent  ring? We turned to the CWFIA,  the California Welfareraud  Investigators Associatn for  answer'}]