LIVINGSTON – A fraud scheme was uncovered in Livingston Parish, resulting in the arrest of what the sheriff’s office called some “Romanian suspects” living in the parish.

The group had an elaborate card skimming operation, deputies said, with 191 fake credit cards and $4,000 cash.

Three juveniles were involved, the deputies said, and appear to have been charged in connection with the case.

Adults arrested were Mihaela Stancu, Antonio Serdaru, Ileana Tomescu and Peter Stancu. Tomescu was released on a $100,000 bond, deputies said in a news release.

Booking information for Stancu, Serdaru and Stancu listed them as non-U.S. citizens.  Information was not available for Tomescu because they bonded out of jail before information was released. 

Of the three juveniles, one remained in the area juvenile detention center as of 3 o’clock Tuesday afternoon. The other two were not in jail but in the custody of state child welfare agents.  A news release from the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office did not elaborate on if the kids were related to the Romanians arrested and charged in the case.

The US Secret Service participated in the investigation which began on March 10.

“We learned several Romanian suspects were in Livingston Parish and a neighboring parish using several counterfeit credit cards to withdraw funds from bank ATMs.  The credit cards used by the suspects were skimmed at local gas stations,” Sheriff Jason Ard said in a prepared statement.

Deputies used surveillance video to determine suspects and the vehicle they were in, leading to the arrests.

A day later, an observant detective noticed the vehicle from the surveillance video at a convenience store in Walker.

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