Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) said last week they had charged a man - referred to as ‘BS’ in the agency’s statement - in the eastern city of Iasi after he was apprehended in possession of almost 1,400 tablets of ecstasy.
Local media have since identified the culprit as Sorin Bulgaru, who was reportedly sentenced to nine years in 2011 for using a forged identity card featuring the name and photo of Robert de Niro, star of such seminal American films as Raging Bull, Taxi Driver and Goodfellas.
The ID also listed the sham de Niro’s home residence as Eternitatea, a local cemetery in Iasi.
Employees at several banks in the city apparently failed to recognise the famous actor’s name and face, as Bulgaru, along with an associate who used exactly the same ID, was reportedly able to take out several fraudulent loans totalling over 60,000 euros (US$67,000).
