From the U.S, Attorney’s Office:

LAKEWOOD, ILLINOIS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO WIRE FRAUD

ROCKFORD — A Lakewood, Ill., man pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal criminal harge of wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Joan H. Lefkow. From approximately January 2007 through April 2015,

VALENTINO VALERIU AGIGNOAE, 55, of Lakewood, participated in a scheme to defraud and obtain money from the United States of America, specifically Social Security Administration disability insurance benefits.

In total, Agignoae fraudulently obtained and caused the United States government to suffer losses of approximately $157,503.

Agignoae began receiving Social Security Administration disability insurance benefits in1996.

In 2015, Agignoae’s Social Security Administration disability insurance benefits were terminated following a multi-year Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General investigation.

The investigation revealed that part of Agignoae’s scheme to defraud included his failure to notify the Social Security Administration that he was able to work and was working at a restaurant in Chicago, which he was an owner and officer of, and that he made false statements and representations regarding his prior work and employment.

Sentencing is set for January 13, 2022, at 1:30 p.m. before Judge Lefkow.

Agignoae faces a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty years.

Additionally, as part of the guilty plea Agignoae agreed to the entry of a personal money judgment in the amount of $157,303.

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 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.

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VALENTINO CLUB CAFE, 150 W Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60707, comes up when one enters “Agignoae, restaurant” into Google. Agignoae is listed as President if H & S Restaurant, Inc.

He lives at 1871 Andover.