Charges detail Romanian crime group's 'quick change' thefts from stores across Twin Cities

Sleight of hand theft explained

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has filed felony theft charges in a "sleight of hand, quick change" scheme, connected to a Romanian organized crime group, that has been targeting retail stores across the Twin Cities metro.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has filed felony theft charges in a "sleight of hand, quick change" scheme, connected to a Romanian organized crime group, that has been targeting retail stores across the Twin Cities metro.

Baronita Rostas, 23, has been charged with one felony count of theft by swindle, and is believed to be just one small player in a much larger scheme.

The thefts happened at stores including TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Sierra, Athleta, Gap and Old Navy. In fact, TJX, the parent company of TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, helped investigate this ongoing crime, as did Gap, Inc. which also owns Old Navy and Athleta.

TJX investigators have identified several members of the Roma organized crime group involved in these schemes, including Rostas. The investigation has shown Rostas has traveled around the country and carried out this retail fraud scheme for several years, along with other Roma members.

Rostas’ thefts in the Twin Cities metro resulted in $6,280 in loss at stores between March 14, 2023 and July 27, 2023.

"This is a complex case, involving several agencies and a significant amount of work," Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. "This sort of high-volume, organized fraud has a significant impact on businesses and their employees, and ultimately impacts all of us through higher prices. We take this crime seriously and will aggressively prosecute those responsible."

How the ‘quick change’ scheme worked

The person carrying out the sleight of hand, quick change scheme enters the register queue with selected merchandise.
They approach a cashier they have identified as vulnerable and present the selected merchandise for purchase, and begin to have a conversation with the cashier.
They display multiple stacks of $100 in $20 bills, placing those multiple stacks in front of the cashier.
They gather the cash to make a recount, but strategically place a finger or two within the stack and ask the cashier for the total amount due from the register screen.
While the cashier is looking at the screen, they remove a portion of the cash that was marked by their finger.
They give the rest of the money to the cashier and keep the bills removed from the stack during the sleight of hand scheme.
They also get the proper amount of change based on the original transaction and the transaction receipt from the cashier, and take possession of the merchandise.
They exit the store and later bring the merchandise to a different store and make a return for full cash value.

Wanted in 5 other states

The investigation revealed Rostas used this scheme at stores, at a minimum, in Hennepin, Ramsey, Washington, and Dakota counties, in addition to stores in North Carolina and Iowa. Each transaction was documented on surveillance video or through photos and store transaction records.

Rostas has five active warrants from the states of Oregon, Ohio and Pennsylvania for fraud, theft, and larceny.