Six Romanians and one Albanian have been indicted on allegations that they operated a multimillion-dollar cyber fraud scheme selling nonexistent cars, boats and other high-value items through eBay and other sites.

Interpol has issued "red notices" seeking assistance apprehending the fugitives, one of whom was arrested in 2010 but managed to give authorities the slip after he walked out of a Romanian courthouse over a bureaucratic issue.

According to the indictment (.pdf), unsealed today in the Eastern District of New York, leader Nicolae Popescu is wanted, along with fellow Romanians Daniel Alexe, Dmitru Daniel Bosogioiu, Ovidiu Cristea, and Dragomir Razvan and an Albanian national named Fabjan Meme. Also listed in the indictment is a defendant who goes by the names “George Skyper” and “Tudor Barbu Lautaru.”

According to authorities, the defendants posted advertisements on eBay, Cars.com, AutoTrader.com, and CycleTrader.com for cars, motorcycles, and boats – priced between $10,000 to $45,000 – and sent buyers fraudulent certificates of title and other documentation to convince them that the vehicle transactions were legitimate.

In some cases, they posed as nonexistent auto dealers in the U.S., even going so far as to create phony websites for the dealerships.

Razvan and other co-conspirators used fake passports to open U.S. bank accounts to receive payments from buyers and emailed the buyers transaction notices and invoices, purporting to come from Amazon Payments, PayPal, and other online payment services.

The gang operated since at least 2006. Police have identified approximately 800 victims who sent money for non-existent Rolex watches, cars, yachts, private airplanes and other luxury goods. Buyers from around the world lost approximately $1 million after they sent money for winning auctions, but never received goods.

Popescu, the 32-year-old alleged ringleader, had been previously detained under a so-called preventive arrest. Under Romanian law, defendants can be held for up to 29 days while an investigation is underway if authorities prove to the court that they need to hold the suspect while evidence is examined. But while the court was busy ruling on an extended arrest for the other suspects, Popescu walked out of the courthouse. The deadline for his initial arrest had passed, and because the court had not yet ruled on his extended detention, he was allowed to leave.