Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

Romanian prosecutors say a man posing as a lawyer used AI apps to make documents purporting to come from courts and took about 48,000 lei from a client

The prosecutors' office attached to the Giurgiu district court in Romania said on 30 October 2026 that it had begun criminal proceedings for continued fraud against a detained man who, according to the evidence gathered, falsely presented himself as a lawyer between 12 May and 28 August 2026 and, using applications that use artificial intelligence, drew up documents purportedly issued by courts, including the Bucharest Court of Appeal and the Giurgiu district court. According to the prosecutors, the injured person handed over a total of 47,896 lei, and also a pig, as payment for the supposed legal services. The prosecutors asked the court to remand him in custody for 30 days. He is presumed innocent.

AI system: Unidentified document-generation tool
Occurred: 12 May 2026 to 28 Aug 2026
Reported: 30 October 2026
Event location: Romania

What the AI did: Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm: Financial Loss

Whose AI use: Someone else’s AI use
Setting: Justice · Finance

Evidence: AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account; 5 claims: 5 reported. 3 open questions
People reported harmed: At least 1 person

AI system as recorded: Applications using artificial intelligence, not named, which according to the Giurgiu prosecutors' office the suspect used to draw up documents purportedly issued by courts (the Bucharest Court of Appeal and the Giurgiu district court)

What Happened

The prosecutors' account. In a communique published in full by ZIUA de Constanța and summarised by Jurnal Giurgiuvean on 30 October 2026, the Giurgiu prosecutors' office said the case prosecutor had begun criminal proceedings against a detained person for continued fraud (31 material acts). According to the communique, the evidence showed that from 12 May to 28 August 2026 the suspect falsely claimed to be a lawyer in order to deceive the injured person and, through applications that use artificial intelligence, drew up acts purportedly issued by various courts. The injured person paid a total of 47,896 lei at the suspect's request, and also handed over animal products, a pig, as payment for the legal services the suspect claimed to provide.

Procedure. The prosecutors said they would ask the judge of rights and liberties at the Giurgiu district court to remand the suspect in custody for 30 days. Jurnal Giurgiuvean reports that he was brought before the court with that proposal on Friday 30 October after 24 hours' detention, and that the judges had yet to decide.

Limits. The sources do not name the AI applications or describe how the documents were made or what they said, and the prosecutors' technical basis for the AI attribution is not disclosed. Jurnal Giurgiuvean, citing the police investigation, reports that the suspect also reached a woman in Timișoara through a social network; the prosecutors' communique describes one injured person and does not mention her, and no source says AI-made documents were used with her, so the record counts only the injured man. The outcome of the custody request is not reported in the sources read.

Reported harm

According to the Giurgiu prosecutors, a client deceived by a man posing as a lawyer, who used AI applications to make documents purportedly from courts, paid him 47,896 lei and a pig for legal services that were not genuine.

Outcome

Pending

On 30 October 2026 the Giurgiu prosecutors began criminal proceedings for continued fraud against the detained suspect and proposed 30 days' pre-trial detention to the Giurgiu district court; the court's decision was pending in the reports read. The suspect is presumed innocent.

What remains unknown

Which AI applications were used, what the purported court documents said and how the prosecutors established the AI use.
Whether AI-made documents were used with the second person Jurnal Giurgiuvean reports, a woman in Timișoara, and what she lost; the prosecutors' communique describes one injured person.
The court's decision on pre-trial detention.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The Giurgiu prosecutors' communique states that, according to the evidence gathered, the suspect used applications that use artificial intelligence to draw up documents purportedly issued by courts, as part of the deception through which the injured person paid him. The applications are not named and the technical basis for the attribution is not disclosed.

5 claims: 5 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported The Giurgiu prosecutors' office began criminal proceedings for continued fraud against a detained person on 30 October 2026.

Causal attribution. The prosecutors' procedural step as relayed by two outlets from one communique.

ziuaconstanta.ro(opens in new tab) supports · Romanian
Procurorul de caz din cadrul Parchetului de pe lângă Judecătoria Giurgiu a dispus punerea în mișcare a acțiunii penale față de o persoană reținută, cercetată pentru înșelăciune în formă continuată.
jurnalgiurgiuvean.ro(opens in new tab) supports · Romanian
După administrarea probelor, sub coordonarea procurorului din cadrul Parchetului de pe lângă Judecătoria Giurgiu, tânărul a fost reținut pentru 24 de ore.

Reported According to the prosecutors, from 12 May to 28 August 2026 the suspect falsely claimed to be a lawyer and the injured person paid him a total of 47,896 lei and also a pig for the supposed legal services.

Causal attribution. The prosecutors' allegation; the suspect is presumed innocent.

ziuaconstanta.ro(opens in new tab) supports · Romanian
Din probatoriul administrat a reieșit că în perioada 12.05.2026-28.08.2026 ... și-a atribuit în mod mincinos calitatea de avocat cu scopul de a-l induce în eroare pe numitul ... suma totală de 47.896 RON, precum și alte produse de origine animală (un porc) în vederea achitării prețurilor serviciilor juridice prestate de acesta.

Reported According to the prosecutors, the suspect used applications that use artificial intelligence to make documents that appeared to be issued by courts, including the Bucharest Court of Appeal and the Giurgiu district court.

Causal attribution. The AI attribution is the prosecutors'; both outlets relay the same communique, so the claim is reported, not corroborated.

ziuaconstanta.ro(opens in new tab) supports · Romanian
Potrivit anchetatorilor, aceasta ar fi pretins în mod mincinos că este avocat și ar fi utilizat aplicații bazate pe inteligență artificială pentru a crea acte care păreau emise de instanțe judecătorești.
jurnalgiurgiuvean.ro(opens in new tab) supports · Romanian
Mai mult, anchetatorii susțin că acesta ar fi utilizat aplicații bazate pe inteligență artificială pentru a confecționa documente care păreau emise de instanțe judecătorești, inclusiv de Curtea de Apel București și Judecătoria Giurgiu.

Reported The suspect was brought before the court on 30 October 2026 with a proposal for 30 days' pre-trial detention, and the judges had yet to decide.

Causal attribution. Procedural status as reported on 30 October; the decision is not in the sources read.

jurnalgiurgiuvean.ro(opens in new tab) supports · Romanian
Vineri, 30 octombrie, după expirarea măsurii reținerii, acesta a fost prezentat instanței cu propunere de arestare preventivă. Judecătorii urmează să decidă dacă va petrece următoarele 30 de zile în arest.

Reported Jurnal Giurgiuvean, citing the police investigation, reports that the suspect also reached a woman in Timișoara through a social network.

Causal attribution. Jurnal Giurgiuvean's account of the police investigation; the prosecutors' communique does not mention her and no source links AI-made material to her.

jurnalgiurgiuvean.ro(opens in new tab) supports · Romanian
Folosindu-se de o rețea de socializare, acesta ar fi ajuns până la Timișoara, unde ar fi atras în aceeași capcană o femeie

Sources

2 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

ZIUA de Constanța, 30 Oct 2026: Giurgiu prosecutors' communique on a person detained for fraud who posed as a lawyer(opens in new tab)
s1 · ziuaconstanta.ro · News report · Romanian · Inspected · 30 October 2026 · Shares an underlying account with another listed source · Primary
Jurnal Giurgiuvean, 30 Oct 2026: young man from Giurgiu posed as a lawyer; brought before judges(opens in new tab)
s2 · jurnalgiurgiuvean.ro · News report · Romanian · Inspected · Shares an underlying account with another listed source

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Romanian and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-11-01; no human translator inspected the text. Regional daily reproducing the full communique of the prosecutors' office attached to the Giurgiu district court. Applies to s1.

Read in Romanian and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-11-01; no human translator inspected the text. Local news site summarising the same prosecutors' communique and the court appearance; same origin as s1. Applies to s2.

Event countries: Romania. Affected-person countries: Romania. Court countries: Romania.

The prosecutors' office and court are in Giurgiu, Romania, and the purported documents name Romanian courts; Jurnal Giurgiuvean describes the suspect and the injured person as from Giurgiu county.

Reviewed for publication 2026-11-01: Published on the Giurgiu prosecutors' communique, relayed by two outlets, that a man posing as a lawyer used AI applications to make documents purporting to come from courts and took 47,896 lei and a pig from a client. The AI attribution and the fraud are the prosecutors' allegations; the suspect is presumed innocent.

People described

A man who sought legal services and, according to the prosecutors, paid the false lawyer; not otherwise identified in this record.

People reported harmed in this case

At least 1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

The prosecutors' communique describes one injured person who paid 47,896 lei and a pig (counted). Jurnal Giurgiuvean, citing the police investigation, also describes a woman in Timișoara whom the suspect reached through a social network; the communique names one injured person, and no source says AI-made documents were used with her or states her loss, so she is not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Romanian prosecutors say a man posing as a lawyer used AI apps to make documents purporting to come from courts and took about 48,000 lei from a client. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-giurgiu-romania-prosecutors-fake-lawyer-ai-made-court-documents-fraud

BibTeX

@misc{2026_giurgiu_romania_prosecutors_fake_lawyer_ai_made_court_documents_fraud,
  title = {Romanian prosecutors say a man posing as a lawyer used AI apps to make documents purporting to come from courts and took about 48,000 lei from a client},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-giurgiu-romania-prosecutors-fake-lawyer-ai-made-court-documents-fraud}
}

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Medium Unidentified Google AI tool (reported)

Gujarat railway police say two workers were detained on a train with fake tickets a man made for them with a Google AI app for Rs 2,000

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Medium Unidentified image and document tool

Romanian police say AI-made documents and photos won an older woman's trust in a fake stock-investment scheme that cost her over 250,000 lei

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Medium Unidentified video tool

India: police say AI deepfake videos of Tamil Nadu CM Vijay offering aid defrauded people in several states; arrested Rajasthan man later granted bail

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