A foreign national who fled federal prosecution in Georgia has been arrested in Washington state after more than a year on the run.
Bogdan Alexandru Gherghevici, 27, a Romanian fugitive, was apprehended near Seattle on Sept. 4, 2026, in connection with a nationwide scheme selling fictitious farm equipment.
Gherghevici was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2025 on 16 counts, including wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Federal authorities alleged that between March and May 2025, Gherghevici and a co-defendant defrauded more than a dozen prospective buyers, many of them elderly, resulting in total losses exceeding $600,000.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Western District of Washington Magistrate Judge Brian A. Tsuchida ordered Gherghevici’s extradition back to Georgia to face trial.
Margaret E. “Meg” Heap, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, commended the multi-agency coordination required to locate the fugitive.
“We commend our law enforcement partners no matter where they may be and the team effort across the country will now send this defendant back to answer for the conduct alleged in this case,” Heap said. “We look forward to bringing this case to a resolution and assisting the victims with closure.”
TRENDING STORIES:
- Stockbridge mayor removed from office after 10-hour hearing
- Mom says son was assaulted, left hospitalized after football practice, school calls it ‘horseplay’
- Dancers forced to hand over hundreds in tips to work at gentlemen’s club, lawsuit says
Channel 2 Action News reported when Gherghevici was accused of stealing the funds for fake equipment sales, and his co-conspirator was sentenced.
While agents captured Ghergevici’s co-defendant at the time, he himself had disappeared and was considered a fugitive.
“Fleeing prosecution does not erase the harm caused to victims or stop HSI from pursuing justice,” Steven N. Schrank, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama said. “This arrest reflects the strength of our partnerships with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and law enforcement partners in Washington state.”
Gherghevici’s co-defendant, Viorel Cristea, 33, was previously sentenced in March 2026 after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud. U.S. District Court Chief Judge R. Stan Baker ordered Cristea to serve 21 months in prison, pay $679,100 in restitution to victims and face deportation upon completion of his sentence.
Heap said the strain financial scams put on agricultural workers was an extra burden on top of the challenges Georiga’s farmers are already confronting.
“Farmers in Georgia and around our nation already face enormous challenges to provide our citizens with food and fiber,” Heap said. “Getting ripped off by unscrupulous scam artists – especially those who are illegal aliens – shouldn’t be one of those hardships.”
The law enforcement response originated in May 2025 when a victim reported suspicious activity involving a farm equipment dealer purportedly operating in Blackshear, Ga.
Investigators with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office and HSI determined the business entity was fraudulent and identified Cristea and Gherghevici as conspirators. Pierce County Sheriff Ramsey Bennett highlighted the joint law enforcement response.
“We appreciate the help of our federal partners in this prosecution,” Bennett said. “It’s refreshing to see a con artist prosecuted for stealing from hard-working Americans.”
Court records show the conspirators used false representations to persuade victims to wire money into bank accounts controlled by the defendants.
Buyers were told their machinery would be delivered within days or weeks, but sellers ceased all communication once the funds were received.
Schrank said these types of scams hurt farming communities across the nation, not just the farmers themselves.
“When hardworking farmers are targeted by scams like this, it’s not just their livelihoods that are threatened – it’s the communities and families who depend on them,” Schrank said. “HSI is committed to protecting honest people from fraudsters who prey on trust and vulnerability.”
Gherghevici will be transferred to the Southern District of Georgia, where Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan Bondura, Olivia Brame and L. Alexander Hamner will handle the prosecution.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]