Four co-defendants convicted of odometer fraud and related charges were sentenced April 30 and May 1 in U.S. District Court by Judge Brian C. Buescher. 

The men are from Craiova, Romania. Each of them entered the United States sometime around 2020-22 and were allowed to remain in the country. 

Around January 2022-July 2024, in Nebraska and adjoining states, the defendants acquired high mileage vehicles, rolled back odometers, re-sold the vehicles at inflated prices, and provided vehicle titles that falsely stated low mileage readings. Sometimes a defendant acquired and sold the same vehicle himself, but each of the defendants conducted overlapping transactions concerning certain vehicles; for example, acquiring a vehicle that a co-defendant sold or accompanying a co-defendant during an acquisition or sale. 

Collectively, the defendants bought and sold at least 23 vehicles in that way.  The court determined that the cumulative loss was $104,400, based on the difference between the price of each vehicle when acquired and the inflated price when it was sold after the odometer roll-back. 

Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew R. Molsen said the defendants defrauded ordinary citizens “who were simply trying to stay within their budgets by buying used cars.  What makes it even more egregious is that they victimized American citizens after having been allowed to remain in the United States.” 

Razan Trasca, 35, pled guilty to four counts of odometer fraud and three counts of “Utter and Possess Forged and Counterfeit Securities of a State” (vehicle titles).  He was sentenced to 30 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $53,260 in restitution. 

Daniel Andronache, 28, pled guilty to one count of “Utter and Possess Forged and Counterfeit Securities of a State” and sentenced to 38 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $26,690 in restitution.

Ionut Madalin Zamfir, 25, also pled guilty to two counts of odometer fraud and two counts of Utter and Possess Forged and Counterfeit Securities.  He was sentenced to 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $38,500 in restitution. 

Dudu Musi, 37, also pled guilty to one count of Utter and Possess Forged and Counterfeit Securitie.  He was sentenced to 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $17,150 in restitution.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles Fraud Unit. 

“HSI works closely with our partners to identify and investigate anyone who comes to the U.S. to commit fraud,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Seattle acting Special Agent in Charge Matthew Murphy.

Previously

In a separate case, Andronache and Zamfir were stopped in November 2023 in Blaine, Wash. near the Canadian border.  They were transporting 12 aliens, all of whom were Romanian citizens who had entered the U.S. illegally.  In 2024, Andronache and Zamfir were convicted of conspiracy to illegally transport certain aliens and sentenced. At the conclusion of that case, Andronache and Zamfir were brought to Nebraska to face the charges of odometer fraud and related charges. 

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