A man was sentenced to prison for stealing thousands of dollars from low-income Southern California residents.
Catalin-Marius Graur, 43, stole the funds by skimming tens of thousands of electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards at ATMs, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
EBT cards allow recipients to access benefits from CalFresh, CalWORKs, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and more.
Graur is a Romanian citizen who entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2020 but overstayed his visa, prosecutors said. His last known residence was in Hollywood.
Graur travelled across Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, installing sophisticated skimming devices in ATMs and point-of-sale terminals to capture the account information of anyone who used those devices.
He worked with several members of a transnational criminal organization from Romania to carry out the scheme, court documents said.
While searching the home of Graur’s accomplice, investigators discovered Graur had sent him more than 36,000 stolen EBT card numbers over a three-year period.
In June 2024, Graur was arrested in New York City. He was found with more than $37,000 in cash and 1,488 stolen access device numbers. In October 2024, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
On Aug. 4, 2025, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was ordered to pay $165,697 in restitution.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the United States Secret Service, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, the California Department of Social Services, and the Romanian National Police.
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