A Romanian national was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on Monday for participating in an international cybercrime ring that used fake advertisements to scam more than 900 U.S. residents.
Ionut-Razvan Sandu, 35, pleaded guilty in April 2022 to several charges connected to a scheme in which the gang posted on popular online auction and sales websites like eBay for goods that did not actually exist.
According to the Justice Department, Sandu is the 24th member of the gang to be sentenced, and four others are awaiting their own sentencing. Sandu was accused of personally laundering more than $3.5 million in cryptocurrency gained through the scheme.
U.S. Attorney Carlton Shier said the charges are the result of a “massive, years-long effort” by the U.S. Secret Service to shut down the ring.
“This highly organized and sophisticated syndicate stole directly from the pockets of hard-working Americans. The criminals then used digital currency to launder their ill-gotten gains,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite said.
According to the DOJ, the criminal ring started its work around October 2014, when Sandu and others created a process enabling U.S.-based cybercriminals to launder the proceeds gained from online auction fraud.
Romanian nationals Ciprian-Ionut Filip and Gabriel Constantin Georgescu, both 37, worked with others to post fake advertisements on the the auction sites using fake accounts. They were both sentenced in November to more…
