Criminal charges have been filed against a 27-year-old man who allegedly stole thousands of dollars in state public assistance benefits by using fraudulent Electronic Benefit Transfer cards at an ATM at a Lancaster bank, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced Thursday.
Ioannis Alecsopoulos pleaded not guilty to 10 felony counts of identity theft, three felony counts of grand theft and one misdemeanor charge of obstructing a law enforcement officer.
The charges include allegations that the victims were particularly vulnerable and that the offenses involved planning and sophistication, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Alecsopoulos — whose city of residence was not immediately available — allegedly withdrew more than $4,000 and attempted to withdraw more than $13,000 from the ATM before his arrest Saturday by investigators from the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation as they conducted an EBT anti-skimming operation, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
He is accused of using electronic devices known as skimmers to steal the EBT account information, and investigators also recovered other items associated with EBT skimming operations, including nine skimming devices, 94 re-encoded gift cards and eight pinhole cameras, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Alecsopoulos remains behind bars on $500,000 bail while awaiting a bail hearing next Monday in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
He could face a maximum 10-year state prison sentence if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
“EBT theft cruelly robs vulnerable individuals of the public benefits they are legally entitled to,” Hochman said in a statement announcing the charges. “In addition to directly taking critical financial assistance away from children, families and the elderly, public assistance fraud steals from taxpayers. Our office will continue to vigilantly investigate and prosecute these cases and hold offenders fully accountable for their criminal actions. We are also working closely with victims and the LA County Department of Public Social Services to return the stolen benefits.”