LOS ANGELES
A Romanian man who overstayed his U.S. tourist visa was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for orchestrating a widespread ATM skimming scheme that targeted Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cardholders, officials announced Monday.
Catalin-Marius Graur, 43, formerly of Hollywood, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $165,697 in restitution.
Graur pleaded guilty in October 2024 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Between 2020 and 2024, he installed skimming devices on ATMs and point-of-sale terminals across Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, stealing data from tens of thousands of EBT cards—a program that provides food and housing assistance to low-income households.
He was arrested in June 2024 at a New York City Airbnb, where authorities recovered $37,000 in cash and 1,488 stolen access device numbers. Investigators later discovered he had transmitted over 36,000 stolen EBT card numbers to an accomplice over three years.
Graur acted as part of a transnational Romanian crime ring.
Agencies involved in the investigation include the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, California Department of Social Services, and Romanian National Police.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Brown of the Major Frauds Section.