Romanian National Set to Plead Guilty for Participation in Fraud Scheme

ALBUQUERQUE – Claudiu Pesteleu is set to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on October 16, 2025, at 1:30 pm.

Pesteleu, 43, a Romanian national illegally present in the United States, participated in a nationwide fraud scheme involving businesses that were impersonated through false websites.  These fake websites would cause victims to wire money—believing they were purchasing real products, such as cars and equipment.  The funds would then be wired to the bank accounts of shell companies, which had been organized with fake foreign passports and identity documents.

Pesteleu's participation in this scheme lasted from May 2023 through June 2024.  His specific role was to assist co-conspirators in obtaining and then concealing these fraudulently obtained funds. For example, Pesteleu obtained false identity documents and then organized businesses under the names of these false identities. The shell companies and alias that Pesteleu used in this scheme included Zammer Equipment LLC (under the alias Matthias Zammer), Super Exotic Deals LLC (Samuel Der Saar), Premier E. Liquidators LLC (Fred Laport), Adler Pre Owned LLC (Boris Adler), and Bittman Motors LLC (Fritz Bittman). Pesteleu also used the additional alias of Thomas Muller. After creating these shell companies, Pesteleu then opened bank accounts using the names of these shell companies and his false identities. Consumers would then be instructed to wire funds to these accounts—mistakenly believing they were making real purchases. A total of approximately $1,800,000.00 in fraudulently obtained funds was sent by various consumers to bank accounts that Pesteleu controlled. Once these funds entered these bank accounts, Pesteleu then engaged in numerous financial transactions with these funds in order to make it difficult for law enforcement officials to discover this scheme and to seize these funds.

If you believe you were a victim of Pesteleu, please contact the Homeland Security Investigations tipline at 866-347-2423.

If you are a victim or potential victim and would like to attend the plea hearing on October 16, 2025, at 1:30 pm or have questions, please contact Victim Specialist Jacquie Gutierrez at (575) 522-2304 before the date of the hearing for more information.

The Homeland Security Investigations Deming investigated this case with assistance from the Gainesville, Florida Police Department. Las Cruces Criminal Chief Richard Williams and Assistant U.S. Attorney Grant Gardner are prosecuting the case.