On April 26, 2023, staff from WEAR News published an article announcing the arrests of 4 Romanian nationals who have targeted the jewelry industry. The suspects were arrested in Missouri after they stole jewelry from a jewelry store that resulted in a significant dollar loss for the business.
The suspects committed the theft at a store in the jurisdiction of the Walton County Sheriff in Florida on April 11, 2023. The four suspects are “connected to an organized crime network.” The suspects were identified as George Paun, 31, Stela Sava, 26, Terca Tarnovan, 31, and Vasile Lacatus, 27. Each suspect was charged with “grand theft over $20,000 and grand theft in concert with one or more persons” for their involvement in another theft from a jewelry store that occurred in 2022, also in the jurisdiction of the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.
Sava, Tarnovan, and Lacatus have multiple warrants for their most recently reported theft on April 11th. The Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and various state and local agencies, were described as “continuing their investigation into these suspects.” Click here to read the source for this posting and to learn how this crew was apprehended.
The suspects are featured below. If you believe your business was targeted by these suspects, please contact the Jewelers’ Security Alliance at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org.
Watch the news clip below to learn more: