Online Car Buyers Duped Out of $5 Million

Accused Ring Leader Extradited from Spain to Face Money Laundering Charges in NYC 

Federal prosecutors charge a group with scamming online car buyers out of millions. -File Photo

By Dan Gesslein 

Bronx Voice 

February 28, 2023

NEW YORK - The feds have charged a Romanian national living in Spain with defrauding online car buyers out of millions of dollars. Prosecutors said the crew ran an elaborate scheme to defraud people looking to buy cars online out of their savings. 

The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District announced the extradition of Ion Viorel Ionitoiu who was living in Spain. Prosecutors charged Ionitoiu with money laundering and bank fraud. 

“Ionitoiu is the seventh member of an operation that laundered fraud proceeds for online swindlers who preyed on U.S. consumers who has been charged, and he will now face justice for his actions,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “This Office is committed to rooting out both those who commit the underlying fraud and their enablers, regardless of where they reside.” 

Williams said Ionitoiu was part of a scam ring that defrauded people looking to buy cars online. Ionitoiu is charged with acting as an intermediary between the scammers and a money laundering ring that operated out of Brooklyn. 

Prosecutors claim that the suspects created fake websites with domain names that sounded like legitimate websites. The members allegedly pretended to be from car dealerships looking to sell vehicles online. However, the suspects did not work for car dealerships and did not have the any cars to sell. But they took buyers’ money none the less. They also advertised vehicles they had no intention of selling as part of the scam through online market places like Craigslist and eBay. 

Once a buyer showed interest in a vehicle, a member of the crew would “negotiate” a price for the  non-existent car. Once the buyer agreed on the price they wired funds to bank accounts they thought were owned by the dealership to purchase the car. Prosecutors said the victims were actually wiring their funds to accounts controlled by the Brooklyn money laundering crew. 

According to the federal indictment, no buyers received the vehicles they thought they purchased. In total prosecutors claim buyers were defrauded out at least $5 million. 

Ionitoiu was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1,000,000, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction.   

Lithuanians Karol Kamiński, 33, Stanislav Tunkevic, 48, and Arturas Gilys, 41, all pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. 

Lithuanian Svetlana Vaidotiene, 55, was sentenced to 10 months. She was also ordered to pay $271,000 in restitution. 

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.