Man sentenced for stealing from Nevada’s unclaimed property fund

John Badea, 69, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon. Badea filed claims with the state by using the identity of people whose money had been held in trust by the state treasurer’s office, according to court documents.

Badea worked with his co-defendant, Radu Gal, in the fraud scheme, which lasted from February 2011 to August 2014.

They searched the Unclaimed Property Division website to identify potential victims who were owed unclaimed property and obtained their identifying information using a ruse, court records show. Badea deposited the money into bank accounts in the names of stolen identities.

Through their scheme, Badea and Gal submitted more than 143 false claims and impersonated more than 100 people.

Badea pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, one count of mail fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. Gal pleaded guilty in February to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Gal is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 4.

Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter.