ABC LA – The owners of a Van Nuys car rental business are accused of using the business as a front for a criminal tourism ring that traffics criminals from South America to steal millions of dollars worth of cash and property from Southern California businesses and homes.
On Wednesday, authorities announced the arrest of the suspected criminal gang and arrested six people, including the company owner.
They face multiple charges in federal court, including wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and arranging transactions to evade financial reporting requirements. The indictment alleges that a Santa Clarita Valley man facilitated burglaries, thefts and other crimes for the “South American crime tourism group.”
We're going to dissect this in parts. Half because it's so much to process, and the other half because it's so unbelievable.
So follow us a little further here.
The indictment alleges that Juan Carlos Thola-Duran, 57, of Canyon Country, and his partner, Ana Maria Arriagada, 41, controlled and operated Driver Power Rentals, the seventh defendant in the indictment. Arriagada was the registered owner of the Van Nuys-based car rental company.
The DPR took care of the crime tourists and sent them to commit the crimes, authorities said.They are accused of offering luxury cars as a way to blend in with the neighborhoods they burglarized. Authorities say the defendants insisted on showing fake IDs and turned away anyone who tried to rent a car with a real ID.
Imagine trying to rent a car, being asked for your ID, then presenting your real driver's license and being told, “Oops, sorry. We actually can't rent you a car”?
That's exactly what happened at Arriagada's small car rental place. This was definitely not Enterprise, where you can be your own boss.
That was far from the case, my friends.
“In this way, the defendants essentially acted as quarterbacks for a huge team of zealous thieves,” Estrada said.
According to Estrada, during the period of their investigation alone, the group was involved in organizing about 120 burglaries and robberies in 80 cities in California and across the United States.
From around January 2018 until last month, Thola-Duran allegedly conducted a criminal tourism operation that involved luring groups from South America to various parts of the United States to commit thefts, including shoplifting, burglaries of homes and businesses, and the theft of victims' credit and debit cards, according to the 46-count indictment.
Okay, so let's get this clear up to this point: people traveled to Los Angeles with the sole intention of going to this car rental place where they were given the keys to a car only by presenting a fake ID and were given contracts and luxury cars to go out and rob houses and businesses.
Most people from other countries come to the United States to see our major cities or national parks, to ski, or to visit our beaches. The list is endless. One thing that never occurred to me to attract tourists would be grand theft. This is definitely something new that I have never seen in any travel brochure.
You have to watch the video of U.S. Attorney Estrada describing this operation. It's crazy.
And amazingly, it was an extremely lucrative business for everyone involved. Extremely.
Thola-Duran and Arriagada allegedly instructed criminals who had stolen credit cards to immediately go to stores such as Target, Best Buy and Home Depot and maximize the value of the stolen cards by purchasing electronics, gift cards, designer handbags and other high-end luxury items before the stolen cards could be canceled, the indictment states.
Federal prosecutors allege that the Santa Clarita man sold approximately $5.5 million worth of the stolen goods to other buyers during the conspiracy, including $5.1 million that was transferred to various bank accounts of accomplices.
“Our message to crime tourists is: your days are numbered,” Estrada added.
Did I just bury my head in the sand and not notice that this was the case? Or is this news to everyone else too?
Think about what a turning point it would be if you actually benefit by going on holiday.
Most of us law-abiding morons take a vacation once a year, and it costs us a fortune. You have to save up, find cheap flights and hotels, plan for overpriced meals and drinks, and hope you can still pay your rent when you return from the trip.
But what if you could not only call your rides zero cost, but actually make them in the black? All you had to do was visit a special car rental company – straight out of the Grand Theft Auto video games – and hand them an envelope with fake IDs and instructions on where to go and who to rob?
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It's like a modified version of Airbnb, where instead of a comfortable apartment, you get a luxury car and a list of potential destinations.
If we're honest, it's a pretty clever business model.
Just like Calogero told his father Lorenzo in A Bronx Story, “the worker is an idiot.”
