The Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office has formally filed charges against a pair of Romanian nationals who are accused of placing credit card skimming devices at six stores earlier this year in order to commit public benefit fraud.
Local and federal authorities allege that Cosmin Vaduva, 37, and Elena Caldarareasa, 33, targeted electronic benefit (EBT) cards which don’t typically have the same security measures, like embedded chips, that are used to protect debit and credit cards.
Vaduva and Caldarareasa were charged with six counts each of violating anti-skimming laws and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. They pleaded not guilty Tuesday, according to Jefferson Parish court records…