Two people charged with forgery considered the ‘ultimate flight risk’

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Two people are in Greene County Jail after police discovered multiple fake IDs while investigating a quick-change scheme.

Elvetiano Anghel and Ika Munteanu have been each been charged with two counts of felony forgery.

The Springfield Police Department (SPD) responded to the Walmart on South Campbell Avenue on April 27 to reports about people who were stealing money using a quick change scheme.

According to Crime Stoppers, individuals confuse and distract the cashier by paying for a small-priced item with a large bill, then requesting a money exchange. In the confusion, the suspect then tells the cashier how much change is due to short-change the cashier.

A probable cause statement shows that Anghel and Munteanu gave SPD multiple fake names and were only identified using a fingerprint scanner. Munteanu also attempted to use two small children who were with her to distract and hinder officers.

A rental vehicle was towed from the scene and later searched, where SPD found a number of prepaid debit cards, receipts from retail stores across the U.S., and multiple fake ID’s with Anghel’s photo on them. New York EBT cards were found in Munteanu’s name, along with a passport in one of the children’s names and four state IDs that did not belong to her.

Additional court documents from the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office state that both Anghel and Munteanu have no known address, and need large bonds to prevent them from leaving the area to continue their scams. Those documents also describe them as the “ultimate flight risk” due to their lack of ties to Springfield.

Anghel and Munteanu are currently being held in the Greene County Jail.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOLR - OzarksFirst.com.