DIICOT, FBI raids on members of Sandu Syndicate, wanted in the US for USD 5 million fraud
The Directorate for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Terror (DIICOT) prosecutors and law enforcement with the Service for Combating Organized Crime Groups, assisted by the FBI, carried out eight house searches in Arges and Teleorman southern counties to catch members of the Sandu Syndicate, wanted in the US for a USD 5 million fraud with illegal unemployment benefits obtained in the state of California, the Romanian police and DIICOT said in a press release.
The raids were carried out on the basis of an international letter rogatory sent by the US judicial authorities to individuals wanted on U.S. territory for committing the offences of setting up an organised criminal group, fraud with particularly serious consequences and money laundering between 2020 and 2022.
The US federal authorities have indicted 14 Romanian nationals suspected of involvement in the Sandu Syndicate, whose leader was arrested in March 2023 in the US.
The investigation conducted by the US authorities revealed that from July 2020 until August 2022, members of the Sandu Syndicate, made up of Romanian citizens, allegedly participated in a criminal scheme to fraudulently obtain government benefits from the State of California, namely unemployment benefits administered by the California Employment Development Department (EDD).
The investigation throughout the US revealed evidence that members of the group fraudulently obtained benefits from the EDD for themselves and also assisted others in obtaining benefits in exchange for a portion of these fraudulently collected amounts.
During the course of the investigation, the US authorities identified a criminal organization, consisting of Romanian nationals, domiciled in Valcea County, who allegedly participated in fraud and theft throughout the United States, and discovered that this criminal scheme was aimed at fraudulently obtaining unemployment benefits from the State of California.
The damage to the State of California is estimated at approximately USD 5,200,000.
As a result of the searches carried out in Romania, RON 4,700, EUR 8,000, a car worth approximately USD 105,000, approximately 300 grams of gold jewellery, four luxury watches (one worth USD 55,000 and another worth USD 15,500), 24 license plates suspected of having been stolen from the US, a mobile phone, relevant documents and blank weapons were discovered and seized.
A federal agent and an analyst from the FBI San Diego office, a federal IRS agent and three representatives of the FBI Bucharest office assisted the police officers with the organized crime unit during the procedural activities.
AGERPRES