A Romanian national has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for a series of thefts totaling $161,000 from stores across the United States. U.S. District Judge John A. Ross handed down the sentence on Tuesday and ordered Adrian Stoica, 47, to repay the stolen funds.
According to court documents, Stoica carried out at least 170 fraudulent transactions in 20 states between November 2021 and March 2025. The scheme involved using sleight-of-hand tactics at store registers after cashiers scanned merchandise, prepaid gift cards, and electronic money transfers. Stoica would count cash into piles to make it appear he was paying the full amount but would then remove bills from the bottom of the stack before handing over the money, resulting in significant losses for each store.
Specific incidents cited include shortchanging a Chesterfield store by about $860 on February 17, 2023; causing a loss of approximately $690 at an O’Fallon, Missouri store on September 7, 2023; and defrauding a Fenton store of about $660 the following day.
Authorities reported that Stoica has entered the United States illegally three times since 2016. He was previously ordered removed from the country in May 2018 and deported in February 2020. He has used multiple aliases including Boeri Kvec, Borri Kvec, Boeri Stoica, and Adrian Anghel.
Stoica pleaded guilty in September 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 unit and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf.
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