Six individuals have been charged as a part of a sweeping federal investigation that centered on crime tourism teams from South America who authorities allege stole luxurious items and people’ monetary info after which laundered hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in illicit funds, officers mentioned Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege Juan Carlos Thola-Duran, 57, of Canyon Nation directed members of crime tourism theft teams to journey to varied elements of the U.S. to steal, together with shoplifting items from shops, burglarizing houses and companies, and stealing people’ credit score and financial institution playing cards. The 46-count indictment filed this month charged six people with wire fraud, cash laundering, conspiracy and structuring transactions to keep away from federal monetary reporting necessities.
“Crime tourism is a serious downside, impacting not simply Southern California, however our whole nation,” U.S. Atty. Martin Estrada mentioned in an announcement. “These defendants facilitated and directed crime vacationers who dedicated a whole lot of robberies throughout the nation. In essence, they acted as quarterbacks for a workforce of thieves.”
Prosecutors mentioned Thola-Duran operated Driver Energy Leases, a Van Nuys-based automobile rental enterprise, along with his live-in girlfriend, Ana Maria Arriagada, 41, and the couple offered autos for the teams to make use of throughout thefts.
The couple directed the crews to steal credit score and financial institution playing cards and max them out by buying electronics, reward playing cards, designer purses and different high-end items from shops akin to Goal, Finest Purchase and Dwelling Depot, based on prosecutors. They might then have the illicit items introduced again to the rental automobile enterprise or direct them to be mailed to others concerned within the scheme, prosecutors mentioned.
Miguel Angel Barajas, 57, of Northridge; John Carlo Thola, 33, of Canoga Park; and others picked up the parcels and delivered them to Thola-Duran, prosecutors allege.
Thola-Duran is accused of performing as a “fence” to purchase the products at a fraction of their retail worth and pay the thieves a proportion of the objects’ worth. Prosecutors say he then would promote the stolen items to different patrons. Over the course of about six years, Thola-Duran made about $5.5 million from the scheme, based on prosecutors.
The suspects used the cash to purchase luxurious items akin to actual property and horses, prosecutors mentioned.
“These criminals had been working a housebreaking operation with a sophistication that rivals Amazon, and as a substitute of dispatching supply drivers, they had been dispatching educated thieves all through Southern California to steal from what needs to be the place we’re most secure — our houses,” Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer mentioned.
The indictment additionally alleges that Thola-Duran, Arriagada and others obtained practically $275,000 in fraudulent COVID-19 enterprise reduction loans.
The development of Chilean crime teams visiting Southern California for thefts and robberies emerged about 5 years in the past. The thieves, authorities say, arrive on simply obtainable tourism visas. The phenomenon, which police have known as “housebreaking tourism,” has spurred political outrage and prompted questions over visa tourism from the South American nation.
Investigators say such crews are behind a whole lot of break-ins throughout Southern California, together with in rich pockets of Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura and San Diego counties. The Los Angeles Police Division earlier this 12 months fashioned a South American Theft Group process power to concentrate on so-called housebreaking tourism.
“The consequences of crime tourism are being felt very acutely right here in Southern California. We’ve been feeling the results of residence burglaries which have shot up over the previous two years,” Estrada mentioned.
