A Romanian national, Daniel Iulian Teutoc, was sentenced on June 4, 2026 to five years in federal prison and ordered to repay more than $11 million after a multi-count indictment tied him to a card‑skimming operation that targeted Walmart stores across the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Federal prosecutors say Daniel Iulian Teutoc, who has also used the name “Simon Mikula,” pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire and bank fraud among other charges, and the court imposed restitution reflecting the scope of the losses. The sentence includes imprisonment followed by supervised release and a large financial judgment intended to compensate victims whose cards were cloned and drained.

Investigators allege the scheme relied on coordinated teams visiting multiple Walmart locations, including stores in Laplace, Slidell, Harvey, Boutte, Chalmette, and New Orleans, where criminals attached card skimming devices to point‑of‑sale terminals. Those devices harvested credit, debit, and EBT data, allowing conspirators to duplicate cards and move funds or make fraudulent purchases before victims noticed the theft.

Court records describe a networked method: some members installed skimmers that stayed in place, while others later came to capture card details at affected registers, combining roles to avoid detection and maximize yield. The defendants used magnets and other simple gadgets to trigger skimmers and transmit card data wirelessly to phones, creating an efficient pipeline for stolen account information.

Once the account information was captured, Teutoc and co‑conspirators are accused of sending the data to other members of the operation who then made unauthorized charges or attempted to empty balances, including SNAP and EBT benefits. The scheme targeted both payment cards and government assistance cards, increasing the number of victims and the total economic harm documented by investigators.

The charges brought against Teutoc included violations under Title 18 of the United States Code for wire fraud, bank fraud, access device fraud, and conspiracy, listing specific sections that reflect the variety of alleged criminal acts and the number of counts in the indictment. Prosecutors also charged possession of multiple unauthorized access devices, emphasizing the breadth and persistence of the operation across the district.

United States District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown imposed a sentence of 60 months in custody, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered $11.2 million in restitution to address victims’ losses. The monetary judgment mirrors the government’s assessment of the financial damage tied to the cloned cards and fraudulent transactions associated with the conspiracy.

The U.S. Attorney’s office credited the work of several federal and local law enforcement partners in building the case, including Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Secret Service, the New Orleans Police Department, the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office, and the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Paul J. Hubbell, Nicholas Moses, and André Jones led the prosecution, representing the Narcotics Unit, the Public Corruption Unit, and the OCDETF Narcotics Task Force respectively.

Officials framed the prosecution as part of a broader national enforcement effort called Operation Take Back America, which federal authorities say concentrates Department of Justice resources on organized crime, transnational criminal organizations, and violent offenders affecting community safety. That initiative, according to public filings, coordinates OCDETF teams and Project Safe Neighborhood resources to disrupt complex criminal networks and reduce fraud and violence that cross state and international lines.

https://x.com/HSINewOrleans/status/2064707505926615401

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