Catalin-Marius Graur, a Romanian national, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for orchestrating a multi-state scheme that stole welfare benefits from low-income Americans.
On August 4, the 43-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud after stealing thousands of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card numbers across California and New York. He was arrested in June 2024 at a New York City Airbnb, where authorities recovered $37,000 in cash and nearly 1,500 stolen account access numbers, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Graur targeted social service recipients, specifically those enrolled in CalFresh and CalWORKS, by installing sophisticated skimming devices on ATMs and point-of-sale machines across Los Angeles and the Inland Empire. Once victims swiped their cards, the devices captured sensitive data, which Graur and his accomplices then used to create fraudulent EBT cards to steal benefits.
Federal prosecutors say Graur entered the U.S. in 2020 on a tourist visa but overstayed and remained in the country illegally. Over three years, he transmitted more than 36,000 stolen EBT card numbers to co-conspirators, enabling large-scale theft of taxpayer-funded aid.
In May, another accomplice, Mihai-Adrian Humoiu, received a seven-year sentence for his role in the same scheme.
According to the FBI, Romanian nationals have long been involved in organized EBT skimming fraud in the U.S. In 2023, Virgil Negru, a Romanian elected official, was also charged with identity theft and forgery related to ATM skimming.
Officials say that California’s switch to chip-enabled EBT cards in April 2025 has already reduced fraud reports, though stores without chip readers remain vulnerable.
To address rampant skimming, California has improved its EBT reimbursement process, now processing claims within 1–2 days in most cases. However, reimbursement is capped, and customers can only file once per Federal Fiscal Year.
This high-profile case highlights the vulnerabilities of outdated benefit systems and the growing threat of international cybercrime targeting U.S. welfare programs.
