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Sophisticated heist crew out of West Hollywood stole millions and eluded police — but not the FBI

October 28, 2024

For months, a group of alleged thieves traveled around California and beyond, cracking safes, pocketing cash, and always appearing to stay one step ahead of local authorities.

But now, according to the FBI, the jig is up.

Federal prosecutors in California’s Eastern District have charged 10 people with conspiring to steal millions of dollars from dozens of banks and ATMs. The criminal complaint says that the crew comprised mostly Chilean nationals, several with multiple alias and fake IDs, who rented Airbnbs near their intended targets and employed a secret stolen car rental service for vehicles used in heists.

The exact amount the group was able to allegedly steal throughout 2024 is unknown. The criminal complaint lists dozens of thefts or attempts where a total of $2,581,954 was taken, including several where the robbers got away with a quarter-million dollars in a single haul.

In nearly every single alleged heist, the modus operandi was the same, with the thieves scouting locations in advance, renting Airbnbs and vehicles, then putting their plan into action. They would typically spray-paint security cameras, then use power tools and blowtorches to access ATMs. They would often wear disguises, like posing as a construction crew, and bring with them cellphone jammers, cases of power tools, sledgehammers, and crowbars, according to the complaint.

Sometimes this required going through a wall to access a bank’s cash room, like last Sept. 18, when the group allegedly broke into the Diamond in the Ruff pet spa on East Orangeburg Avenue in Modesto, then cut a giant hole in the wall to access an ATM cash room in an adjacent Wells Fargo. That resulted in a $247,000 cash loss to the bank, the criminal complaint says.

But despite their efforts, the group was leaving a digital paper trail behind with every new crime they committed, the complaint alleges. The FBI’s first significant break in the case came when they were able to identify suspect vehicles that were consistently being used, and tracked one back to an underground rental service in West Hollywood.

FBI agents learned that the vehicle, a Chevrolet Suburban, had been rented from a club promoter who used the Instagram account @xtrackz, and who told police he rented the Chevrolet to a person named “Gordito” who had claimed he needed it to vacation with his family. The promoter also told authorities he had no idea the Chevrolet had been allegedly stolen, according to the criminal complaint.

Gordito turned out to be a man named Alex Moyano-Morales, who authorities claim had fake IDs and aliases purporting to be a citizen of both Colombia and the United States. Moyano-Morales is now the lead defendant in the case, and the alleged ringleader of the theft group.

After identifying Moyano-Morales, agents began tracking his cellphone location data for previous months, and determined that his associates had rented Airbnbs near several of the heists. One of the property owners in Turlock turned their video surveillance footage from the property over to the FBI, which showed the group loading burglary tools into the unit upon their arrival, the complaint says.

In addition to Moyano-Morales, prosecutors have charged Maite Celis-Silva, Erik Osorio-Olivarez, Pablo Valdez-Rodriguez, Rosa Bastias-Serra, Camilo Sepulveda-Guzman, Bassil Dacosta-Frias, Camilo Alarcon-Alarcon, Michelle Parada-Munoz, and a 10th defendant whose identity remains a mystery for now. He has been charged under the pseudonym John Doe 2. Court records say Bastias-Serra is also wanted for extradition to Chile in connection with a 2015 “theft resulting in death, manslaughter, or murder.”

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Authorities claim the defendants played different roles in the heists, some renting Airbnbs and vehicles, others scouting target locations, and others committing the alleged burglaries. The target locations included banks and ATM kiosks in Modesto, Citrus Heights, Fresno, Turlock, Auburn, Rocklin, Anaheim, Fall River Mills, and Merced, among other locations. They’re also under investigation for possible involvement in a string of similar larcenies in Los Angeles and San Diego, and one that occurred last January in Houston, Texas, according to the criminal complaint.

Earlier this month, authorities say the group moved to Oregon and may have committed at least two similar thefts there. Four members of the group — identified by the FBI as Valdez-Rodriguez, Alarcon-Alarcon, Parada-Munoz, and Dacosta-Frias, were arrested at an Airbnb rental in Seattle, where $20,000 and numerous burglary tools were discovered, according to the complaint. The complaint says Parada-Munoz tried to “delay and fight” the arresting agents and that the other three attempted to take off in a Ford Fiesta that was used in some of the heists.

The charges carry a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to court records.

Orange County Register

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Sophisticated heist crew out of West Hollywood stole millions and eluded police — but not the FBI

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