A Romanian man was sentenced today to serve more than five years in prison for his role in an international fraud scheme involving online marketplace websites.
Razvan Caprarescu, 39, originally of Bucharest, Romania, was indicted in Tennessee in March 2014 for conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud in connection with the scheme. In June, his case was transferred to Florida, where he had been indicted in March 2013 for use and attempted use of a false, forged and counterfeit Belgian passport. He pleaded guilty to both charges in August 2014.
As part of his guilty plea, Caprarescu admitted that his co-conspirators fraudulently listed vehicles for sale at online marketplaces such as eBay, authorities said. When victims expressed interest in buying the vehicles, the co-conspirators responded with emails telling them to wire payments to specific bank accounts opened by Caprarescu and another co-conspirator using false identities and fraudulent documents such as counterfeit passports.
According to authorities, a total of 18 victims sent approximately $367,036 to accounts opened by Caprarescu between October 2011 and June 2012. Another 17 victims sent approximately $321,389 to accounts opened by Caprarescu’s co-conspirator.
Both Caprarescu and his co-conspirator sent the bulk of the money to other members of the operation residing overseas. Caprarescu also admitted that he used a false Belgian passport bearing an alias to rent a mailbox at a U.S. Pak-n-Ship store located in Broward County, Florida.
In addition to his prison term – which totals 63 months – Caprarescu was ordered to pay $658,441 in restitution.
