A Romanian national accused in a $600,000 fake farm equipment scheme has been captured near Seattle, Washington, after spending more than a year on the run from federal prosecutors. His name is Bogdan Alexandru Gherghevici, and he’s 27.
Gherghevici was apprehended near Seattle on September 4, 2026. Western District of Washington Magistrate Judge Brian A. Tsuchida has since ordered his extradition back to Georgia, where a federal grand jury indicted him in August 2025 on 16 counts including wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The Scheme He’s Accused Of
According to the indictment, Gherghevici and a co-defendant, Viorel Cristea, participated in an extensive fraudulent scheme claiming to do business in the Southern District of Georgia, selling fictitious farming equipment to buyers across the country. The scheme allegedly ran from at least March 2025 through May 2025.
Prosecutors say more than a dozen prospective buyers were defrauded, many of them elderly, resulting in total losses exceeding $600,000. The setup, according to reporting on the case, was pretty simple in concept, buyers were offered used farm equipment, sent money for it, and never received any machinery in return.
How He Was Identified in the First Place
The investigation traces back to May 2025, when a victim reported suspicious activity involving a purported farm equipment dealer based in Blackshear, Georgia. The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations worked together and determined the business was fraudulent, eventually identifying Gherghevici and Cristea as the alleged conspirators.
Pierce County Sheriff Ramsey Bennett called the case one of the largest identity theft investigations in the county’s history, and one of the rare instances where law enforcement successfully identified and arrested the suspects behind this kind of scheme.
He Fled and Disappeared
Once the investigation started closing in, Gherghevici fled prosecution. Authorities say he operated under the alias “Victor Zema” while unlawfully present in the United States, evading federal agents for over a year.
His co-defendant wasn’t as lucky staying hidden. Viorel Cristea, 33, was captured earlier and pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He was sentenced in March 2026 to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay $679,100 in restitution to victims, along with being ordered deported once his sentence is complete.
It’s worth noting that Cristea’s conviction doesn’t establish anything about Gherghevici’s guilt. The two cases, even though tied to the same alleged scheme, are legally separate, and Gherghevici’s charges remain unproven allegations at this stage.
Officials on the Arrest
U.S. Attorney Meg Heap for the Southern District of Georgia praised the multi-agency coordination it took to finally track Gherghevici down, saying law enforcement partners across the country worked together to send him back to answer for the conduct alleged in the case, and that her office looks forward to bringing the matter to resolution for the victims involved.
Steven N. Schrank, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama, put it plainly too, saying that fleeing prosecution doesn’t erase the harm caused to victims or stop investigators from pursuing justice.
What He’s Facing
If convicted, Gherghevici faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud charge. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory two years in prison, which has to be served consecutively, on top of any other sentence, rather than at the same time.
Where the Case Stands
Now that he’s been captured and extradition has been ordered, Gherghevici will head back to the Southern District of Georgia to face trial. Right now, the charges against him remain allegations, and he’s presumed innocent unless the government proves its case in court.