Lakewood Man Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud

ROCKFORD — A Lakewood, Ill., man pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal criminal charge of wire fraud.

From approximately January 2007 through April 2015, VALENTINO VALERIU AGIGNOAE, 55, participated in a scheme to defraud and obtain money from the United States, specifically Social Security Administration disability insurance benefits. In total, Agignoae fraudulently obtained and caused the U.S. government to suffer losses of approximately $157,503.

Agignoae faces a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty years.  As part of the guilty plea, Agignoae agreed to the entry of a personal money judgment in the amount of $157,303.

Sentencing is set for Jan. 13, 2022, at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow.

The guilty plea was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Andrew Boockmeier, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael C. Beckman, Robert S. Ladd, and Michael D. Love, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Niranjan Emani.

Agignoae began receiving SSA disability insurance benefits in 1996.  In 2015, Agignoae’s benefits were terminated following a multi-year SSA-OIG investigation. The probe revealed that Agignoae failed to notify the SSA that he was able to work and was in fact working at a Chicago restaurant, which he also owned.  He also made false statements and representations regarding prior work and employment.