Bellevue police accuse Romanian organized crime group of ‘blessing’ scam
BELLEVUE, Wash. - A Romanian organized crime group accused of targeting people across King County with a "blessing" scam is facing felony charges, after Bellevue police say detectives working in the Special Enforcement Team caught them in the act and recovered stolen jewelry, including a sentimental necklace belonging to a 71-year-old man.
Investigators say the suspects approached strangers in parking lots from Bothell to Renton to Tukwila, offering to bless them before attempting to remove necklaces, rings and bracelets.
Surveillance video obtained through a public disclosure request shows a suspect roaming her hands over an intended victim's body as she searched for jewelry under the guise of blessing him.
(FOX 13 Seattle)
The backstory:
Police identified the suspects as Eduard Caldararu, his wife, Gaspia Gafar, Mariana Boceanu — also known as Mariana Miclescu — and Tamara Ghiocel. Detectives say Caldararu drove the group to various shopping centers while the women approached the victims.
At a grocery store in Tukwila, a 66-year-old Asian woman said two women approached her, said she was their mom and hugged her. "I was not their mom and did not know them," she told police. "They tried to give me $10. I was not injured, but one of them was pulling on my finger to get my ring. I pushed them away. It made me pretty scared," she said.
Court documents describe an attempted theft in which a woman was lured to a vehicle where the suspects tried to steal her gold bangles from her wrists.
(FOX 13 Seattle)
What they're saying:
At a Walmart Supercenter in Renton, police say Boceanu approached 71-year-old Rickey Foreman.
"She looked pathetic, okay? Because she had about three teeth in her mouth, and they were scattered around in there," Foreman said.
Foreman said he initially tried to be kind when the woman offered him money and said she wanted to bless him.
"She tell me, ‘Take this,’" Foreman said. "I said, ‘No, I don’t need your money, I got money.’ ‘Oh, no. I just wanna bless you.’"
Foreman said she then unclasped a necklace and attempted to put it around his neck.
"And while she was clamping it around my neck, that’s how she stole this off of my neck," he said.
The necklace she stole from him held three rings, including one that belonged to his brother, Otis Foreman, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first Black military pilots in U.S. history. Foreman’s service was honored in a photograph by Peter Yang that appeared in People Magazine.
"Him and his wife was married for over 50 years and his goddaughter entrusted me with it, and for it to get taken in a flim-flam, whatever you wanna call it, just blew me away," Foreman said.
Detectives observed the theft which provided them with probable cause to stop the suspects’ vehicle.
Body camera footage shows officers ordering Caldararu out of the driver's seat and directing his two passengers, Gafar and Boceanu, to remain inside before removing and arresting them. Ghiocel was not in the vehicle.
Detectives later obtained a search warrant for the vehicle where they found Foreman’s stolen necklace.
"When this turned up missing, that was the only thing I really cared about was getting the ring back that belonged to my brother," Foreman said.
(FOX 13 Seattle)
Charges filed against Romanian organized crime group
The other side:
King County prosecutors charged Caldararu, Gafar and Boceanu with first-degree theft and two counts of attempted first-degree theft. Ghiocel was also charged and ordered to appear in court but failed to do so; a judge issued a bench warrant for her arrest.
At arraignment, Gafar and Caldararu, who required a Romanian interpreter, pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors say Caldararu drove the car in each instance "when it approached the victims and drove off." Detectives also followed him as he stopped at a Renton pawn shop and was paid $2,120 for two gold chains, two rings and a pendant.
Caldararu’s attorney argued he works construction and is not a flight risk, requesting no bail. But Judge Nelson Lee expressed concerns about the lack of a verified address and what he described as the targeting of immigrant communities, "specifically those from the Asian and Hispanic communities."
His bail was kept at $100,000, which he posted and was set free. Gafar and Boceanu are both free, as well, awaiting trial.
Detectives say they have connected the group to a Romanian couple arrested in Bellevue for a robbery in Lynnwood. Police say they tried to steal an Asian man's watch in the parking lot an H-Mart store last December. When the man’s wife tried to retrieve it, she was knocked to the ground, hit her head and broke a vertebrae.
Ion Alexandru and Ruxandra Constantin were arrested in Bellevue. Detectives said that during a search of Constantin’s purse, they found two socks each containing $40,000 in cash, which was seized as evidence.
She is free on bail, but Alexandru remains locked up in the Snohomish County jail on $200,000 bond.
Foreman said he feels fortunate detectives were able to intervene and return his necklace.
"The day is a great day," he said. "I’m really happy to tell people Washington state has a great team of police, and they really are helpful. And we need to quit giving them a hard time."
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The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle anchor David Rose.