ST. LOUIS — Three Romanian citizens have been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to running a nationwide short-change fraud scheme.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk sentenced Daniel Rostas, 30, to 15 months in prison and Loredana Angel, 28, to two years in prison. Pitlyk previously sentenced 28-year-old Legenda Rostas on May 31 to two years in prison and ordered her to repay more than $200,000 in restitution.
The amounts Rostas and Angel will have to repay have not yet been determined, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said.
Angel and Legenda told authorities that they are sisters and that Legenda and Daniel Rostas are married.
The trio pleaded guilty earlier this year to felony charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and illegally reentering the country. They admitted that they used sleight of hand to defraud Target stores for years. While buying Visa gift cards, they would target younger or less experienced employees and trick them by showing the full purchase price in cash, then folding over a portion and keeping it while handing the rest to the employee. They would then wire the money they made to relatives in Romania.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Legenda admitted to being involved in $224,666 in fraud since 2017, and Angel admitted $83,865 in fraud. Records showed that Daniel wired $62,534 to Romania and elsewhere. All three also admitted to entering the U.S. illegally after previously being removed from the country. Daniel was removed twice.
Homeland Security Investigations and the Arnold Police Department investigated the case.
