Two Romanian brothers living illegally in the United States have pleaded guilty to wire fraud in North Carolina after prosecutors say they ran a multistate scheme that stole nearly $1 million in food stamp benefits, and the identities of at least ten Americans along the way.
Marian Ovidiu Dumitru, 37, and Catalin Dumitru, 39, each face up to 20 years in federal prison for the operation, which ran from July 2024 through August 2025 and spanned multiple states, as first reported by Breitbart News. The case was prosecuted in the Western District of North Carolina.
The guilty pleas land as the Trump administration ramps up enforcement against fraud in federal benefit programs, and as taxpayers continue to absorb the cost of a welfare system that, in this case, was looted by people who had no legal right to be in the country at all.
The brothers' operation had two prongs, both built on stolen personal information.
First, they harvested Americans' identities and used them to file fraudulent applications for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, food stamps, across multiple states. In one case alone, prosecutors say more than $760,000 was stolen from SNAP. The total scheme approached $1 million.
Second, they deployed electronic skimmer devices at ATMs, gas pumps, and other locations to capture financial data from unsuspecting victims. They transferred that stolen information onto counterfeit bank cards and used the cards to purchase goods, which they then resold on the black market. That skimming operation generated tens of thousands of dollars in additional fraud.
When authorities arrested the pair, both were found in possession of counterfeit bank cards.
The scope is worth sitting with. At least ten Americans had their identities stolen. Their names were used to siphon off benefits meant for people in genuine need. And the men doing it were not authorized to be in the United States in the first place.
U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson of the Western District of North Carolina did not hold back. He said the brothers "preyed on some of our most vulnerable citizens" and laid out the double harm, theft from the taxpayer-funded program and direct victimization of Americans on government assistance.
"They stole benefits from those who actually need them and then resold products bought with those benefits for their own profit. We will use the full force of the federal government to hold accountable those who exploit taxpayer funded programs and victimize citizens on government assistance."
That framing matters. SNAP exists for Americans who cannot afford to feed themselves or their families. When someone games the system, especially someone who entered the country illegally and stole real Americans' identities to do it, the people harmed most directly are the poorest and most vulnerable.
The case fits a broader pattern of illegal immigrants convicted of major financial fraud schemes that exploit federal systems designed for lawful residents. The damage is not abstract. Real people lose real benefits, and taxpayers foot the bill for the fraud.
Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald, who leads the DOJ's National Fraud Enforcement Division, framed the case as part of a wider crackdown. The division was launched on April 7 by the Trump Department of Justice to investigate fraud across federal programs.
"The Fraud Division will not tolerate anyone who steals from public benefits programs designed to support Americans in need. If you attempt to defraud these programs, we will come after you with the full force of federal law. We are committed to safeguarding America's tax dollars and the programs they are meant to support."
The Fraud Division operates alongside the Trump administration's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a government-wide effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance. The task force targets fraud, waste, and abuse within federal benefit programs, a category that, by any honest accounting, has leaked billions of dollars for years with minimal accountability.
Cases like the Dumitru brothers' scheme illustrate why the enforcement push exists. A nearly $1 million SNAP fraud ring, run by two men in the country illegally, using the stolen identities of American citizens, and apparently operating across state lines for more than a year before it was shut down.
Federal authorities have also been arresting illegal immigrants in identity fraud probes at workplaces around the country, underscoring how deeply identity theft has become intertwined with illegal immigration.
The SNAP dollar figure, nearly $1 million, grabs attention. But the identity theft may be the more lasting injury for the victims.
At least ten Americans had their personal information stolen and used to file fraudulent benefit applications. Prosecutors described the consequences as causing "extreme hardship" to those victims. Anyone who has dealt with identity theft knows the phrase is no exaggeration. Credit damage, fraudulent accounts, months or years of paperwork, the fallout follows victims long after the criminal case closes.
The skimmer devices add another layer. The brothers allegedly planted electronic skimmers at ATMs and gas pumps, locations millions of Americans use every day without a second thought. The stolen card data was transferred to counterfeit cards and used to buy goods for resale. It is a well-documented criminal method, and it preys on ordinary people conducting ordinary transactions.
The broader financial toll of schemes like this one is staggering. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has linked illegal employment schemes to billions in suspected payroll tax fraud, painting a picture of systemic financial crime enabled by illegal immigration.
The guilty pleas are in. But several questions remain unanswered.
Which states, beyond North Carolina, were targeted by the fraudulent SNAP applications? The DOJ press release references a "multistate" scheme but does not name the other jurisdictions. How many additional victims may exist beyond the ten already identified? Were there other co-conspirators in the ring who have not yet been charged?
No sentencing date has been announced. Each brother faces up to 20 years in prison for the wire fraud conviction. Their immigration status, in the country illegally, raises obvious questions about what happens after any prison term. The Justice Department has been aggressive about pursuing removal and denaturalization in cases involving criminal fraud, and there is no reason to expect leniency here.
It is also unclear how the brothers entered the United States or how long they had been here before launching the scheme in July 2024. Those details matter, not just for this case, but for understanding how people with no legal status manage to access systems built for American citizens.
For years, critics of lax immigration enforcement warned that the consequences would extend far beyond border communities. Cases like this one prove them right. Two men who should never have been in the country stole the identities of Americans, drained a program meant to feed the poor, and ran a black-market resale operation, all while living in the shadows of a system that failed to stop them.
The DOJ has also charged illegal immigrants with crimes ranging from voter fraud to financial schemes in recent months, reinforcing the point that illegal immigration is not a victimless phenomenon. Every fraudulent SNAP application filed by the Dumitru brothers displaced resources that could have gone to an American family in genuine need.
The administration's fraud enforcement apparatus, the new Fraud Division, the Vance-led task force, exists precisely because these cases were going uninvestigated or under-prosecuted for too long. Nearly $1 million stolen from food stamps. Ten Americans' identities hijacked. Counterfeit bank cards in hand at the time of arrest. And the perpetrators were people who had no right to be here.
When the system works, it catches schemes like this one and holds the people behind them accountable. The question taxpayers should ask is how many more are still running.
