Woman Admits Stealing Cosmetics from Stores in Missouri, Around the Country

ST. LOUIS - A woman has admitted participating in a nationwide shoplifting spree that cost retailers $188,000.

Ionela Chiciu, 19, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property. She admitted stealing cosmetic products and other merchandise between Jan. 9, 2024, and May 27, 2026, from retailers throughout the United States. Chiciu traveled from California to various states, including Kansas, Missouri and Illinois, to steal. She and others hid the products in their clothing and/or bags and left the stores without paying. One retailer lost $143,805 to the scheme, and other stores lost thousands each time Chiciu and the others visited.

On May 23, 2026, Chiciu and an unknown co-conspirator stole about $2,097 worth of cosmetic products from a Prairie Village, Kansas retailer. About an hour later, they took $9,725 worth of cosmetic products from a store in Independence, Missouri. Four days later, they stole nearly $19,000 worth of cosmetic products and other merchandise from five stores in Illinois before driving a car containing the stolen goods to Chesterfield, Missouri, where they were arrested after stealing $13,853 worth of cosmetic products. Chiciu and her co-conspirators stole a total of about $188,473 worth of merchandise.

Chiciu, who is also known as Ionela Chiciu-Nistor, Ionela Nistor Chiciu, Ionela Aurora Chiciu and Aurora Nistor, has used different home addresses during her arrests.

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, the Chesterfield Police Department and police departments around the country investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karin Schute is prosecuting the case.