"According to court documents and media reports, Kamil and his co-conspirators burglarized vehicles to steal credit cards, debit cards, phones and other forms of identification to later make fraudulent purchases, including luxury items and expensive electronics, totaling at least $850,000. The larceny took place across various Southern California beaches including Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Manhattan Beach, as well as beaches in San Diego County and other popular surfing spots, from April 2021 through December 2022."
"The scheme also involved lookouts who would watch where surfers would stash their keys before they hit the waves; then a partner in crime would grab the key and break into the car, taking phones and wallets. Kamil was able to hack facial recognition software on phones to get into the victims' apps, prosecutors said. The thieves would then empty out bank and other accounts."
Moundir Kamil, 56, led a nearly $1-million scheme targeting surfers in Southern California. He and accomplices Jordan Adams and Jennifer Pruneda pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, attempted bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. The group burglarized vehicles to steal credit and debit cards, phones and other identification, then used the information to buy luxury items and electronics totaling at least $850,000. The thefts occurred at beaches from April 2021 through December 2022, including Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Manhattan Beach. Lookouts stole keys, partners broke into cars, and Kamil hacked facial-recognition software to access and drain victims' accounts. Sentencing is scheduled in downtown Los Angeles.
Read at Los Angeles Times
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]