'Money Mule' Gets 48 Months For Online Fraud

CHICAGO (STMW) -- A Romanian man was sentenced to 48 months in prison Wednesday for his role as a "money mule", moving and hiding proceeds from a fake online auction that was part of an international fraud scheme.

Adrian Ghighina, 33, of Bucharest, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly after he pleaded guilty in February to one count each of wire fraud and conspiracy, a release from the U.S. Dept. of Justice said.

According to court documents, Ghighina, who entered the country legally in late 2004, acted as a "money mule" in a complex Internet fraud conspiracy.

Co-conspirators, many in Romania, created fake online auctions for expensive items such as cars, motorcycles and RVs on websites like eBay, Craigslist and AutoTrader.com, the release said.

Victims who responded to the listings were directed, in some cases by email or phone, to transmit payment for the non-existent items using Western Union and bank wire transfers to accounts controlled by Ghighina, the release said.

Ghighina admitted he moved from city to city, opening new accounts at various banks using false identification as part of the conspiracy.

From September 2005 until his arrest in October 2009 in Miami, Fla., Ghighina opened accounts and received funds in Illinois, the District of Columbia, Florida, New York, Arizona and elsewhere.

The sentence resolves two separate indictments against Ghighina, from federal grand juries in Chicago and the District of Columbia.

He was previously convicted of related charges of wire and visa fraud in the Miami and sentenced to 27 months in prison on those charges, the release said.

Based on the plea agreement, the sentence imposed Wednesday will run concurrently with the Florida sentencing, for which he has already served 21 months, the release said.