Romanian faces new charges in eBay scam

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A Romanian national pleaded innocent to U.S. charges he was involved in an online scam that fleeced users of Craigslist and eBay.

Constantin Puiu denied allegations in a court heating Tuesday that he wired money to Romania that was sent to the scammers by people who believed they were purchasing vehicles, boats and other big-ticket items.

The St. Louis (Mo.) Post-Dispatch reported Puiu was arrested in August during a traffic stop in St. Charles County, Mo. Deputies said they found several cell phones, 76 receipts for wire transfers and $53,000 in cash in Puiu's BMW.

One arresting officer said in an a affidavit he was told by Puiu that he was part of a sophisticated scheme that used pre-paid cell phones to communicate via text message and had sent ill-gotten funds to Romania on a daily basis.

Puiu was arraigned Tuesday on a superseding indictment charging him with structuring, fraud, money laundering and other counts.