Date: November 16, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov SAN DIEGO — An indictment partially unsealed today charges 14 defendants with fraud and money laundering offenses for a scheme centered around fraudulent unemployment applications submitted to the California Employment Development Department during the pandemic. The indictment alleges the fraud netted the defendants almost $5.2 million in funds from the state of California. According to the indictment, David Constantin and Constantin Bobi Sandu, who were arrested and charged separately in March 2023, helped hundreds of applicants apply for EDD benefits using fraudulent documents. Constantin and Sandu recruited potential applicants through Facebook and met applicants at parks throughout Southern California to complete the application process. Applicants paid Constantin or Sandu a partial fee up front for assisting with fraudulent applications and another fee after applicants received EDD payments. The indictment alleges that from July 2020 to August 2022, Constantin transmitted more than $128,000 in fraud proceeds to associates in Romania. Another defendant who fraudulently obtained EDD benefits with Constantin's help, Eduard Buse, transmitted almost $129,000 to Romania in the same period. Buse also purchased a 2020 BMW X6 with over $105,000 in cash fraud proceeds in December 2022 and shipped the vehicle to Romania. Several other defendants also transmitted fraud proceeds to accounts in Romania. David Constantin was arrested in Romania at the request of the United States on November 13 by Romanian authorities who also served search warrants and seized, among other things, the BMW with California license plates. The Department of Justice will seek Constantin's extradition to the United States. Buse and defendants Leonard Miclescu, Constantin Iosif Constantin and Florentina Sima were arrested in California and Texas. Nine other defendants remain at large. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Adeline Schulberg and Valerie Chu with assistance from the Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs, FBI's Legal Attaché in Bucharest, and Romanian authorities including the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (DCCO) Service for Countering of Organized Criminal Groups, Brigade for Combating Organized Crime (BCCO) – Pitești, County Service for Countering Organized Crime – Teleorman, Romanian Gendarmerie Battalion, Romanian Ministry of Justice, and Romanian Criminal Investigative Directorate - Fugitive Unit. Defendants City and State David Constantin Arges County, Romania Eduard Buse Transient, Romanian Leonard Miclescu Transient, Romanian Constantin Iosif Constantin Transient, Romanian Florentina Sima Transient, Romanian *Additional defendants are not in custody and their names are redacted Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $500,000 fine or twice the value of the monetary instrument or funds involved in the transportation, transmission, or transfer, whichever is greater The investigation is being conducted by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (CI), Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Diego Police Department Economic Crimes Unit, California Employment Development Department Investigative Division, Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. *The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty. CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
