![]() Secret Service has gathered evidence indicating that members of what appear to be one or more criminal enterprises are stealing California EBT account information by installing skimmers on point-of-sale terminals, often at large-volume retailers like Walmart, in communities with higher concentrations of public benefit recipients. The recipient then enters his/her unique Personal Identification Number (PIN) into a keypad to complete the transaction.Īccording to a complaint, the U.S. To access their benefits to purchase eligible food items, the recipient swipes the card through a point-of-sale terminal, or inserts it into an ATM, which record the card number, date, time, and amount of the transaction. The user can make cash withdrawals and payments using the card. The benefits are automatically distributed to the recipient’s EBT card on a designated day of the month - typically, in California, the first five days. “Our office continues to be committed to providing assistance to this task force of state and federal partners who are working together to protect the most vulnerable in our community.”Īccording to charging documents, here’s how the fraud works:īenefits are distributed via electronic transfers to the state-issued EBT cards. “Shutting down this type of systematic fraud that steals food from the tables of families is a priority for the District Attorney’s Office,” said San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan. “The San Diego Police Department is a proud member of the USSS So-Cal Cyber Fraud Task Force and has been for over 20 years,” said San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit. “This operation targeted those taking advantage of San Diego residents who rely on public assistance for everyday needs. We are committed to this task force partnership and will continue to support any and all efforts to suppress fraud in any form throughout our city.” “The Secret Service is committed to protecting our nation’s financial systems from abuse, and we will continue to work alongside our law enforcement partners to ensure that those involved are held accountable.” "This type of fraud hurts everyday Americans who rely on government support to feed and care for their families,” said Jason Reynolds, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service and task force members for their excellent work on these cases. ![]() “We are committed to working with all of our federal, state and local agency partners to identify perpetrators of EBT theft and relentlessly pursue justice for the victims.” Grossman thanked the prosecution team, the U.S. “This kind of crime is extremely hard on people who can least afford to lose their benefits,” said U.S. ![]() One victim, a local single mother of four whose EBT account was drained in early June, said she learned that her benefits had been stolen when she went to the store later that day and found that the money she had been counting on to buy diapers and pay rent was gone. Three of the men were also found to be in possession of skimming devices, pinhole cameras, and tools for inserting the skimming devices into ATMs. All are charged with use of unauthorized access device fraud, which criminalizes the misuse of electronic account information contained on EBT cards issued to public assistance recipients in California and across the country. Ionita and Calin are codefendants the other defendants are charged individually. The other defendants - Radu Grosu, Gabriel Ionita, and Richard Calin – are scheduled to appear in court Friday for detention hearings. Irimia was ordered detained Pipkins was ordered released on a $35,000 bond secured by real property. Two defendants – Constantin Irimia and Devonte Linell Pipkins - appeared in federal court this morning. ![]() According to federal complaints, the defendants accomplished this by placing illegal devices known as skimmers on ATMs or a retailer's card-swiping machine to copy account information from state-issued Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards used by the recipients. Secret Service-led task force as part of a three-day effort to crack down on this devastating and growing fraud in which California benefits are drained from recipients’ accounts almost immediately after the funds are dispersed by the state, typically early in the month. SAN DIEGO – Five men were arrested and charged in connection with the theft of tens of thousands of dollars in public-assistance benefits from low-income families that need the funds to pay for food, housing and other necessities. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |