{"id":2634,"date":"2026-07-02T18:36:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T18:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2634"},"modified":"2026-07-02T18:36:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T18:36:16","slug":"brothers-stole-thousands-of-dollars-in-candy-and-coffee-from-nc-stores-feds-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2634","title":{"rendered":"Brothers stole thousands of dollars in candy and coffee from NC stores, feds say"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/illegal-alien-romanian-brothers-plead-guilty-multistate-snap-benefit-fraud-scheme\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">Romanian brothers admitted Thursday<\/a> to stealing thousands of dollars in candy, coffee, energy drinks and baby formula from warehouse clubs in Gastonia, Pineville, Harrisburg, Durham and Winston-Salem, federal prosecutors said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2633\">More New World screwworm has been detected. Latest updates for NC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Marian Ovidiu Dumitru, 37, and Catalin Dumitru, 39, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, according to a news release by U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p>The charge carries a maximum 20 years in prison. Their sentencing date hasn\u2019t been scheduled.<\/p>\n<p>The brothers were in the country illegally during the multi-state scheme that stole at least $760,000 from the federal SNAP program, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n<p>According to court records, between July 2024 and August 2025, the brothers and unnamed co-conspirators orchestrated an identity theft ring that defrauded SNAP programs in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and other states.<\/p>\n<p>They used skimming devices at ATMs, fuel pumps and other locations to steal data from electronic benefit transfer, or EBT, cards that distribute SNAP benefits, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2631\">NC congressman secures millions of dollars for planned I-77 Lake Norman exit<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The fraudsters loaded the stolen information onto counterfeit bank cards and gift cards they used to buy large quantities of items at membership warehouse clubs, court records show.<\/p>\n<p>The Dumitrus, for example, bought at least $15,600 in coffee, candy and other items from a warehouse club in Gastonia and at least $19,000 in items from a warehouse club in Pineville, according to court documents. They resold or intended to resell the items, prosecutors alleged.<\/p>\n<p>According to court records, at least 10 people were victims.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators also caught the brothers with at least 15 counterfeit and unauthorized bank cards, prosecutors said. Magnetic strips on the cards were cloned with stolen SNAP EBT account information, court records show.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese individuals came to the United States illegally and preyed on some of our most vulnerable citizens \u2014 those receiving SNAP benefits,\u201d Ferguson said in a statement in the news release.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey stole benefits from those who actually need them and then resold products bought with those benefits for their own profit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2629\">These NC barbecue joints rank among nation\u2019s best. They all have this in common<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two Romanian brothers stole thousands of dollars in candy, coffee, energy drinks and baby formula from NC warehouse clubs, prosecutors in Charlotte said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Brothers stole thousands of dollars in candy and coffee from NC stores, feds say - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2634\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brothers stole thousands of dollars in candy and coffee from NC stores, feds say - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two Romanian brothers stole thousands of dollars in candy, coffee, energy drinks and baby formula from NC warehouse clubs, prosecutors in Charlotte said.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2634\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0421harlotte Relocation Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-02T18:36:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2634#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2634\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8dbe691609d05fbc6dbaa5c440b54a93\"},\"headline\":\"Brothers stole thousands of dollars in candy and coffee from NC stores, feds say\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T18:36:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2634\"},\"wordCount\":378,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2634#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/72a40939abe1c0c5d225e8ad75717207.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2634#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2634\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2634\",\"name\":\"Brothers stole thousands of dollars in candy and coffee from NC stores, feds say - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2634#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2634#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/72a40939abe1c0c5d225e8ad75717207.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T18:36:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8dbe691609d05fbc6dbaa5c440b54a93\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2634#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2634\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=2634#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/72a40939abe1c0c5d225e8ad75717207.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/72a40939abe1c0c5d225e8ad75717207.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":673,\"caption\":\"Project: Charles R. 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