Romanian national pleads guilty in South Florida to laundering $1M in online auction fraud scheme, feds say

A Romanian national living illegally in the United States has pleaded guilty to laundering more than million in proceeds from a nationwide online auction fraud scheme that operated out of South Florida federal prosecutors revealed According to the United States Department of Justice Dan Flaviu Komuves admitted in Miami federal court that he helped run an operation that deceived casualties across the country into believing they were purchasing high-value vehicles boats and tractors through legitimate online auction platforms According to court documents the listings were fake and Komuves used shell companies and fraudulent bank accounts to collect and conceal the casualties payments Prosecutors explained Komuves opened numerous bank accounts in South Florida using eight shell companies false identities and counterfeit documents including fake passports to hide his involvement Once the fraudulent payments were deposited he withdrew large sums of cash from multiple branches often on the same day to prevent personnel from tracing or recovering the funds according to the DOJ Komuves laundered more than million between March and August of executives disclosed He was arrested in June after previously pleading guilty to illegal reentry in California A sentencing date has not yet been set