Crime and Public Safety | 7 accused in $5 million cross country ‘crime…
A Santa Clarita Valley man accused of running a crew of “crime tourism” thieves from South America tied to burglaries and thefts across the country that led to more than $5 million in illicit proceeds was among seven people taken into custody early Wednesday, August 28, to face a 46-count federal indictment, law enforcement leaders announced.
A grand jury indictment that was unsealed alleges that Juan Carlos Thola-Duran and six other co-defendants committed a multitude of federal crimes, including wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and structuring transactions to avoid federal financial reporting requirements.
Crime tourism theft groups, according to law enforcement officials in a statement, are comprised of individuals from outside the country, often from South America, who enter the United States and “engage in burglaries, thefts and other crimes.”
The fruits of the thefts are shared with “facilitators and co-conspirators” that assist them, prosecutors said. Thola-Duran and his co-defendants are accused of having been among such facilitators, with federal prosecutors describing them as acting as “quarterbacks for a team of thieves.”
