A former Fairfax District inhabitant, Sorin-Miguel Ghiorghe, has been handed down a 36-month federal prison sentence for his part in a bank fraud scheme, as stated in an announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California . The 47-year-old Romanian national engaged in identity theft and orchestrated the fraudulent acquisition of public assistance benefits by installing skimmers on ATMs, crafting counterfeit debit cards, and subsequently draining cash from numerous victim accounts.

Ghiorghe's sentencing follows his guilty plea in October 2024 to multiple charges including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and possession of device-making equipment; he also had 15 or more unauthorized access devices, it is this type of machinery that allows for the production of counterfeit cards and, his criminal activities targeted particularly vulnerable individuals by siphoning funds meant to aid low-income Californians through their EBT accounts, this includes programs like CalFresh and CalWorks.

United States District Judge John F. Walter issued the sentence and will also preside over the forthcoming restitution hearing. When law enforcement agents raided Ghiorghe's apartment, they discovered not only the skimming equipment but also various EBT account numbers that were registered in other individuals' names, as detailed by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California .

The investigation, spearheaded by the United States Secret Service with substantial support from the Los Angeles Police Department, shed light on the sophisticated methods employed by Ghiorghe to exploit the public assistance system and his transgressions have not gone unnoticed, with Assistant United States Attorney Max A. Shapiro of the General Crimes Section leading the prosecution and following the conclusion of the case, Public Information Officer Ciaran McEvoy has disseminated the details to the public, as can be found in the official press release .