Police in Nashua have arrested a Romanian man in connection with a multi-state EBT card fraud investigation.
Alexandru Ispas, 36, was charged with theft by unauthorized taking, identity fraud, forgery of a government instrument and disobeying an officer.
The investigation, known as “Operation Last Swipe,” began in November 2025 in Maine when that state’s Department of Health and Human Services Fraud Investigation and Recovery Unit identified unauthorized withdrawals from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) accounts.
TANF is a federally funded program providing cash assistance to low-income families. Unlike the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, TANF funds can be withdrawn as cash from an ATM.
>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go <<
On Nov. 1, approximately 33 TANF accounts were compromised in Maine, resulting in the loss of more than $24,000, according to court paperwork.
Over the following months, more money in Maine was stolen, with more than $71,000 lost in similar attacks, investigators said.
Eventually, the criminal activity extended to New Hampshire.
“The pattern activity — including the use of cloned cards and coordinated ATM withdrawals in New Hampshire and Maine — is indicative of an organized criminal enterprise targeting government benefit programs,” court documents said.
From January to May, the suspect, who police said they identified as Ispas, was spotted at ATMs in Manchester and Nashua.
In January, MDHHS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture identified fraudulent withdrawals from 25 TANF accounts in Manchester with reported losses of $14,517, according to court paperwork.
“On July 1, we were notified again by federal agencies that Alexandru Ispas was going to be in Nashua doing the same type of activity, stealing cash from ATMs, using cloned EBT cards from TANF,” said Sgt. John Cinelli of the Nashua Police Department.
Before that arrest was made, investigators said they watched Ispas make repeated transactions at the Santander Bank and Citizens Bank on Main Street.
Court documents showed that $8,390 worth of fraudulent withdrawals happened at the Citizens Bank on July 1. Additionally, 25 fraudulent withdrawals took place at Santander Bank totaling roughly $11,200, police said.
When Ispas was taken into custody, he identified himself as Peter Sagan using a Republic of Slovakia identification card. During the booking process, federal law enforcement officers used facial recognition technology to identify him.
While Ispas was in police custody, investigators recovered $19,590 in cash, which was equal to the amount fraudulently withdrawn in Nashua the day he was arrested, police said.
Ispas also had on him numerous suspected cloned EBT cards, electronic devices believed to have been used to encode cards and a fraudulent Danish passport, police said.
“During the search warrant, they were able to find other cloned EBT cards, encoders, which means that he’ll take credit cards and he can code them with any numbers he would like,” Cinelli said. “What he can do with those at that point is go to any ATM and put them in there and withdraw whatever funds are available.”
Ispas has a history with similar fraud schemes in the U.S. and Europe, police said.
Nashua police could not confirm whether Ispas is believed to have acted alone.
Ispas is currently being held on preventative detention. Additional federal charges are expected.