BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) -- The EBT theft case continues to grow in Kern County. Norbert Karaba, a Romanian national arrested at the start of 2025 for EBT theft, is facing new charges out of L.A. county. Karaba was arrested Thursday morning alongside 51-year-old Nicolae Bud and 29-year-old Gio rgio Marcelo. The defendants were in a home in Northridge. Investigators say they found card skimmers, pinhole cameras and over $40,000 in cash. The District Attorney's Office did not release the number of cloned cards that were found. Norbert Karaba was booked under 25 felony counts of unauthorized use of identifying information of another. Giorgio Marcelo was booked with 99 counts of theft by forged or invalid credit card over $400 dollars, plus 99 counts of computer access to defraud. Kern County DA's Office served the arrest warrant with help from the L.A. District Attorney's Office, California Department of Social Services Investigators, and the L.A. Sheriff's Department. The three suspects were arrested in L.A. County and booked into Kern County Lerdo jail. The suspects will be processed in Superior Court. The three suspects are set to face a judge Monday. Karaba initially was arrested with 78 alleged cloned EBT cards and almost $64,000 in stolen cash. His bail of $200,000 bail was posted by the Romanian Gypsy Church of Riverside. In his court proceedings, we learned more about the sophistication of these operations. DA investigator Michael Brummett shared in court that Karaba allegedly made consecutive, one to two transactions per minute on average, totaling 75 transactions. Pastor of the church, Bobby Doru Moise said family members of Karaba told him he was a good citizen in need of help, and now regrets posting his bail. The three defendants were booked under no bail. ...read more read less