A Romanian national, Adrian Stoica, was sentenced to 27 months in prison by U.S. District Judge John A. Ross for stealing $161,000 from stores across the United States using a sleight-of-hand scheme.
Stoica, 47, was also ordered to repay the stolen amount. According to court records, he carried out at least 170 fraudulent transactions in stores located in 20 different states between November 2021 and March 2025. The scheme involved Stoica deceiving cashiers by counting cash into piles that appeared to match the full payment. He would then discreetly remove bills from the bottom of the stack before handing over the money, resulting in losses of hundreds of dollars or more per transaction.
Specific incidents included shortchanging a Chesterfield store cashier by approximately $860 on February 17, 2023. On September 7 and September 8, 2023, he defrauded stores in O’Fallon and Fenton, Missouri by about $690 and $660 respectively.
Stoica has entered the United States illegally three times since 2016. He was ordered removed from the country in May of 2018 and deported in February of 2020. Authorities reported that he has used multiple aliases including Boeri Kvec, Borri Kvec, Boeri Stoica and Adrian Anghel.
In September, Stoica pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to three counts of wire fraud and one count of illegal entry into the United States.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations division and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf.
