Two Romanian brothers living in the United States illegally have pleaded guilty to a fraud scheme that stole food benefits meant for vulnerable Americans.
The Justice Department announced the guilty pleas on July 2, 2026.
Marian Ovidiu Dumitru, 37, and Catalin Dumitru, 39, both appeared in federal court and pleaded guilty to wire fraud.
Both men are Romanian citizens residing unlawfully in the country.
According to the Justice Department, the case was announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina and is part of the work of DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. Court records say that between July 2024 and August 2025, the two men were part of an identity theft ring that defrauded SNAP programs in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and other states of more than $760,000.
Prosecutors say the ring used skimming devices at ATMs, fuel pumps, and other locations to steal EBT card data.
That stolen information was then loaded onto counterfeit bank cards, gift cards, and other access devices.
This is money set aside to help low-income families put food on the table. The scheme took it from them.
NEW: via @TheJusticeDept Two Romanian nationals illegally in the U.S. have pleaded guilty to a $760,000 SNAP fraud scheme that targeted some of the nation’s most vulnerable recipients.
According to federal prosecutors, Marian Ovidiu Dumitru, 37, and Catalin Dumitru, 39, used…
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) July 2, 2026
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina laid out how the stolen benefits were cashed out: prosecutors say the men used counterfeit cards at large membership warehouse clubs to buy bulk coffee, candy, energy drinks, baby formula, and other goods, including more than $15,600 in purchases at a Gastonia, North Carolina club and more than $19,000 at another club in Pineville. The release says court documents tied the brothers to 15 or more counterfeit and unauthorized bank cards cloned with stolen SNAP EBT data, plus blank magnetic-strip cards, and says the scheme victimized more than 10 individuals and caused some substantial hardship.
Those are the kinds of bulk purchases you make when the plan is resale, not feeding a family.
Each brother faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison. Sentencing has not yet been set.
DOJ says the case supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President JD Vance, which is aimed at rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse in federal benefit programs.
🚨Illegal Alien Romanian Brothers Plead GUILTY to Multistate SNAP Benefit Fraud Scheme
“The Fraud Division will not tolerate anyone who steals from public benefits programs designed to support Americans in need,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald. “If you attempt… pic.twitter.com/pWXMRPQx3k
— National Fraud Enforcement Division (@DOJFraudDiv) July 2, 2026
Homeland Security Investigations, the USDA Office of Inspector General, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and state and local partners worked the case.
Illegal alien Romanian brothers plead guilty to multistate SNAP benefit #fraud #scheme.
w/ @DOJFraudDiv @HSI_Charlotte @OIGUSDA @SBI1937Read more at: https://t.co/iQeLofQ3gk pic.twitter.com/k5HwO38NNS
— U.S. Attorney WDNC (@USAO_WDNC) July 2, 2026
Two men in the country illegally admitted to draining a food-aid program of six figures and hurting the very people it was built to protect.
That is exactly the kind of theft the fraud task force was stood up to stop, and it is exactly the kind of accountability taxpayers have been asking for.
What are your thoughts?
