A multimillion-dollar crime tourism scheme that operated for years in Southern California, facilitating robberies across the country, led investigators to a most unusual hub: a rental car business in Los Angeles.
But this was no ordinary rental car shop. The business “served only criminals,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said at a news conference Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors allege that Juan Carlos Thola-Duran, owner of Driver Power Rentals in Van Nuys, ran the car rental business that the thieves relied on, providing vehicles to criminal tourism groups arriving from South America and directing them to locations in and outside California for their robberies.
Thola-Duran, 57, is one of six people facing charges including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to transport stolen property for their alleged roles in the scheme, federal prosecutors said. The indictment identifies the other five as Thola-Duran’s girlfriend, Ana Maria Arriagada, 41; her son John Carlo Thola, 33; Miguel Angel Barajas, 57; Patricia Enderton, 43; and Federico Jorge Triebel IV, 78, court records show.
“These defendants essentially acted as quarterbacks for a massive team of eager thieves,” Estrada said.
Estrada said the group ran crime tourists who committed hundreds of robberies across the country, including in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, beginning in 2018. The robberies occurred in about 80 cities in California, Colorado, Arizona, New Jersey, Kansas and Illinois and generated about $5.5 million for those charged in the case, according to the indictment. However, prosecutors estimated the loss to businesses and homeowners at about $35 million.
The teams used rented cars to steal luxury items, break into homes and businesses and steal credit and bank cards, prosecutors said.
Thola-Duran and Arriagada are accused of directing the gangs to maximize the stolen cards by purchasing electronics, gift cards, designer handbags and other products from retailers including Target, Best Buy and Home Depot, according to prosecutors and the indictment.
The couple would either have the illicit goods returned to the rental car company or direct the thieves to mail them to other people involved in the scheme, and Barajas and Thola would pick up the packages and deliver them to Thola-Duran, prosecutors wrote in the indictment.
Thola-Duran would buy the stolen goods from the thieves at a fraction of their retail value and either sell them to other buyers or keep them for his group, prosecutors allege, adding that the individuals used the money to purchase luxury goods, including real estate and horses, and used gift cards to buy flooring, appliances and other items for their homes.
“These criminals were running a theft operation with a sophistication that rivals Amazon’s, and instead of sending delivery drivers, they were sending trained thieves across Southern California to rob what should be the safest place we are: our homes,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.
Some robberies were particularly lucrative.
On New Year’s Eve 2020, thieves broke into Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry in Menlo Park and stole high-end watches and jewelry, including a 4.78-carat yellow diamond halo ring. The stolen goods were valued at more than $5 million.
Over the course of about two months, Thola set out to sell the luxury items, according to prosecutors. In a WhatsApp chat, Thola wrote to one of the alleged thieves that he had “a customer for his jewelry” and that “the Russian pays well for any good jewelry that turns up,” according to the indictment. Thola said a $1,000 car rental fee would be deducted from whatever he paid the thief for the goods.
During a traffic stop in Burbank in September 2022, authorities discovered Thola had more than 130 gift cards with a total value of approximately $19,500, approximately $9,400 in cash and receipts for electronics purchased in San Jose and San Diego with stolen credit cards, according to the indictment.
“This group basically acted as a hub for South American crime tourists who wanted to come to our country and take advantage of our freedoms to steal from the American people,” Estrada said. “This group not only facilitated crime tourism, but in many cases actively directed it.”
The indictment also alleges that Thola-Duran, Arriagada and others obtained nearly $275,000 in fraudulent COVID-19 business relief loans during the pandemic.
If convicted, the defendants face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count related to wire fraud and money laundering, up to 10 years for each count of structuring transactions to avoid reporting funds, and up to five years for conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines.
The defendants could not immediately be reached for comment and did not submit statements.
The trend of South American criminal groups visiting Southern California to commit robberies and muggings emerged about five years ago, and authorities have been struggling to control it. The thieves, authorities say, often arrive on easily obtained tourist visas. The phenomenon, which police have dubbed “robbery tourism,” has sparked political outrage.
District Attorney Spitzer said the Chilean government has refused to comply with a requirement to provide the United States with criminal records of Chilean citizens who use a visa program called the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). The program allows Chileans to enter the United States for 90-day periods an unlimited number of times. Visa requirements vary from country to country, but travelers from other South American nations generally require visas with more stringent restrictions to enter the United States.
In Orange County, burglars have been seen searching homes in upscale neighborhoods, wearing special suits that resemble vegetation in an attempt to blend in, prosecutors said. They rent luxury cars to blend in with the neighborhoods and shopping malls they plan to hit, Spitzer said.
In Ventura County, more than 130 people who authorities say were involved in criminal tourism rings have been arrested. The vast majority were using vehicles obtained through Driver Power Rentals, authorities said.
Federal agents said they served 11 warrants, seized 35 cars and some horses while making arrests in the case. The investigation, which spanned several years, was unique because it “focused on the entire mechanism” of the scheme and “created a template for future investigations,” said Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.
“We are not done pursuing South American burglary groups,” Davis said. “They have severely impacted our quality of life in the southern United States and the FBI is committed to continuing to investigate these groups wherever they arise.”
