Romanian Admits $211,000 Nationwide Sleight-of-Hand Fraud

ST. LOUIS - An illegal immigrant from Romania on Friday admitted targeting stores across the country with a sleight-of-hand fraud that netted about $211,000.

Ica Munteanu, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of illegal reentry and one count of wire fraud.

Munteanu admitted unlawfully entering the U.S. around September of 2016. She was deported back to Romania on Sept. 11, 2017, and re-entered unlawfully around March of 2019. Munteanu was found in Florida on June 24, 2025, and originally charged in the Middle District of Florida with that crime.

Munteanu also admitted stealing a total of $211,000 from two national retailers in at least 20 states during at least 70 different transactions. Munteanu would bring merchandise or gift cards to cashiers and then count money into piles that added up to at least the full amount of the transaction. She would then take the cash back, gather it into a pile and slip some bills from the bottom of the stack into her pocket before handing the cash back to the cashier. Munteanu would then go to a different store and return the merchandise. In one example described in her plea agreement, Munteanu shortchanged a store in Rolla out of $2,800, and then returned the merchandise at three different stores in Illinois for a refund.

Munteanu is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23, 2026. The wire fraud charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both prison and a fine. The illegal reentry charge is punishable by up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf prosecuted the case.