Ten people have been charged with trafficking personal identifying information after skimming EBT card information in five New Jersey counties, Pennsylvania, and New York.
The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office announced that Maru Dumitru, Stefan Lautaru, Boby-Stefan Degeratu, Gabriela Ilie, Claudiu Padeanu, Demetria Costache, Mensi Dumitru, Albert Enciu, Florin Badea, and Gheorghe Miclescu have all been charged with second- and third-degree crimes involving the use and trafficking of personal identifying information, theft, and financial facilitation of criminal activity.
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Information regarding the defendants’ ages and hometowns was not immediately available.
Dumitru, Lautaru, Miclescu, and Degeratu were ordered kept in the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Center pending trial at a pretrial court hearing on July 10.
According to the prosecutor’s office, beginning in February 2025, the defendants reportedly began installing skimming devices at points of sale at various businesses in order to get victims’ EBT account information.
The defendants then reportedly utilized the stolen information to create their own debit cards, which they used to make large purchases of energy drinks and infant formula at stores in Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth, Somerset, and Union counties, as well as New York and Pennsylvania.
The purchases were all made using funds from the victims’ EBT accounts. To date, authorities in New Jersey estimate that the victims have suffered a total loss of more than $25,000.
The Highland Park Police Department and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office conducted searches that uncovered more than 100 EBT cards with stickers containing a PIN and the amount loaded onto each card, as well as up-to-date skimmer and encoder devices, revenues, and items from the thefts.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Highland Park Detective Brian O’Mara at 732-572-3800 or Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Greg MacDonald at 732-745-3300.
